How to Meet A Girl - Like a Ninja! (Re-posted!)
by Erizabesu Miharu
Summary: 2k14 verse, but borrows from all nooks of the franchise. The Shredder's been shredded, but he's not the only fish to fry in NYC. And with Mikey feeling cooped up, Halloween might be just the ticket to unwind some of the tension. But when has it ever been that simple? (Fuller summery inside) Mikey/OC
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, yes this is a re-post because I needed to fix all of the spelling errors in this! So, reintroducing my TMNT series with my own special OC. This takes place in the aftermath of Shredder's downfall, with the turtles in hiding since then. Mikey obviously, can't stand this and weasels his way into a night out. What harm could one night do? PLENTY, my terrapin followers, PLENTY!**

 **I will update almost daily, since I've already written the thing, but remember I'm a working girl. So as the time comes to me, I will use it. Use your time, read fervently, and review passionately! (A true TMNT fan would ;)**

 **Japanese Translations: Dachi!- Attention!**

 **October, 2014 (because I'm OCD about timelines)**

 _Foot Clan were everywhere! All over the ground, that is! Mikey grinned at the only two remaining, his nunchaku whirling like crazy. They'd taken down Donnie, even Raph, but they'd find he wasn't so easy a catch. And the best part was, April was here to see it!_

 _"_ _Go Grease Lightnin'!" Mikey laughed, dodging a punch and blocking a sword simultaneously. Knee, kick, SLAM, BOOM, BAM! They were down!_

 _"_ _Cowabunga!" Mikey smiled in his victory, giving his nunchaku a final spin above his head._

 _"_ _Oh Mikey!" April was suddenly there, wrapping her arms around his neck. "That was amazing! And so brave; you're my hero!"_

 _"_ _Well, somebody has to be." Mickey shrugged. Boy, her hair smelled good…_

 _"_ _Whoa Mikey!" Donnie was picking himself up. "I'd say that you defied more then a few probabilities tonight."_

 _Mikey grinned, bumping his brother's fist. "Nothing you guys wouldn't have done."_

 _"_ _Probably nothing with as much style though." Raph folded his arms. Mikey waved it off. "Aw, c'mon Raph… wait… what?"_

 _"_ _Best ninjitsu I've seen yet." the red-banded turtle lifted his fist for a bump. "Better then mine."_

 _What was he saying! Mikey blinked, then looked down at April, who was still hugging his neck. "Oh shell! I'm dreaming again…"_

Michelangelo jerked awake in the split second before he was jerked off the couch. Up and over he went, catching the hot glare of his sensei, Splinter, as he passed through the air. Mikey turned his shell so that it hit the ground first, allowing him to roll and land on his feet.

"Dachi!" Master Splinter commanded and Mikey stiffened immediately into the perfect solider stance. Across the way he spotted the others; pensive Leonardo, smirking Raphael, and chuckling Donatello.

"Michelangelo!" Master Splinter stood before Mikey, eyes narrow. "Again, you ignore the daily exercises that your brothers go after with diligence. Another week, I find your intonjutsu sloppy and your fighting off-center…"

"Your brain shrinking." Raph remarked. He was just lucky that Splinter's tail was out of reach to do something about it.

"Mastering the art of ninjutsu requires the effort of mind and body, my son." Master Splinter continued. "And your mind has been distracted ever since our confrontation with the Shredder…"

Oh, it had nothing to do with the Shredder. They had had eight months to process that whole ordeal, as well as locate and equip themselves with a new home. That had been the hardest part for Mikey, but he had thrown a couple jokes around and pushed on like always. Raph had punched a few walls, Donnie rerouted his computers, and Leo unduly punished himself with extra training for a month for so. They settled within a turn-of-the-century pumping station and all was good… except for one thing.

"Sensei." Mikey dared speak. "I really think my mind would clear up if I went topside."

Splinter blew out an exasperated breath. "This conversation grows old, Michelangelo. Much has been stirred since our battle with the Shredder and Saks. And it stirs still. Oroku Saki's name is attached to every project across the city. The remaining Foot await our return to the surface. The risk will not always be there, but while it remains, we shall remain below ground."

Mikey had heard this lecture so many times and while he wasn't eager to tangle with the Foot again… "Sensei, I'm going NUTS down here! This pad can only be repaired so many times, most of my video games were disintegrated…"

"My computers were damaged as well." Donnie sighed.

"Not to mention our sweet dojo." Leo added.

"Enough!" Splinter's tail cracked the air, silencing all of the brothers. The rat rubbed his forehead, clearly tired of hitting the same wall. "I feel your restlessness, my sons. But to ensure a tomorrow, we must endure today."

Another proverb? Where did he get them all? Mikey paused a second, then raised his hand. Though Master Splinter's back was to him, he sighed warily. "Yes, Michelangelo?"

"There might be a way to ease our endurance, sensei." Mikey threw out, twisting his fingers around one of his metal chain bracelets. Raph and Leo raised their eyebrows at each other. "And just what would that be, O Enlightened One?"

More twisting. "Well, Halloween's coming up…"

"No!" Master Splinter cut him off harshly.

"But Dad…" Mikey started, silenced by another snap of the tail; they'd nicknamed it the 'death viper'.

"I said no." Master Splinter stated, eyeing all four of them. They all averted his gaze, Donnie the first to speak up. "I hate to break it to you Mikey, but given the clichés and traditional costume patterns of the greater population, our appearances are only liable to make us stand out 19.6% more then you think."

"Amazing." Leo blew his breath out, slapping Don's shoulder. "You just managed to make Halloween sound boring."

"April's been feeding us all the intel coming out of the newsroom." Mikey pointed out desperately. "The Foot are so busy keeping Shredhead's empire afloat, why would they even bother with us?"

Leo eyed them all grimly. "Bushido, for one thing. The way of the warrior demands that the student avenge the death of the master."

 _Thank you, Leonardo._ Mikey grunted in irritation.

"Saks Industries, for another." Splinter added, combing a paw through his mustache. "A number of his colleagues witnessed your existence. If even one of them were to spot you…" He shook his head. "No, Michelangelo. It would be too much risk for you and your brothers."

It was either that or risking insanity from cabin fever. Mikey rubbed his chin. "Yeah, ok, the four of us might get some attention. But… what about just one of us?"

Again, there was complete silence. Followed by Raph bending half over in uproarious laughter. "You… you think we'd let you fly solo over the city, Mikey?"

Donnie's face paled. "200 possibilities and theories come to mind. They all end with a broken skateboard and a massive explosion."

Mikey gripped his chest. "That hurts, bro."

"It hurts that you'd even suggest it, Mikey." Leo shook his head, laughter subsiding.

"Hey, aren't we trained in the way of the shadow or not?" Mikey said, more then a little offended. Leo stared hard at him. "C'mon Mikey, why are you freaking over this? It was ten years before we even went to the surface for the first time. Eight months should be a breeze."

"Should be." Mikey agreed. "But it's not. It's cramping my style, man."

His brothers probably wouldn't admit it, but they knew what he was talking about. The sooty New York air rushing through their ears while they pounded across one rooftop after another… glimpsing brief occurrences of nocturnal human life. And now, they were actually friends with a fraction of said human life- a HOT fraction!- and weren't even allowed to meet up with her! And watching April's Channel 6 segments didn't count!

"Pleasepleaseplease, pleaassee, sensei!" Mikey fell on his knees before Master Splinter. "It'd only be for tonight! April's going to some costume party, I don't have to go in, just check stuff out on the roof, and.. and… and if I cause any trouble, I'll do 48 hours in the hachi. I swear!" He crossed his heart. "Boy Scout's Honor!"

Don snorted. "When were you ever a boy scout?"

Mikey ignored him. "Sensei?"

"Alright."

"Ok, 72 hours, but that's my final…" Mikey's jaw dropped. "Wait, what?"

"WHAT!?" Leo, Don, and Raph echoed. Master Splinter eyed Mikey intently. "Nothing good ever comes from holding one back. Sometimes the key to an undisciplined mind is allowing it to bend the rules."

"Alright!" Mikey jumped up, did a backflip to face his brothers and held his hand out for a high three. "I have no idea what sensei just said, but alright! Who's with me?"

"Pass." Don moved past Mikey, probably headed for his latest salvaged laptop. Leo was already across the way at the two punching bags that qualified as their new dojo. "Pass."

 _Their loss._ Mikey eyed his final brother. "C'mon, Raphie! I know that ugly monster inside you's dying for some topside action."

"Shut up!' Raphael shoved his hand away. "Yeah, I'll go topside, but I ain't going with you. Finally gonna get some time AWAY from you boneheads…"

"Uh huh, my sons," Master Splinter wagged a finger. "There will be certain… stipulations."

 **I love the turtle family! Their scenes are my favorite! Remember to review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**The story working for you so far? It's the beginning of a massive roller coaster, I promise you that! Huge TMNT fan here, who also happens to be an oppressed writer. My main goal is to take the Michel Bay movies and give them a few solid plot lines and believable dialogue. However, I will be borrowing heavily from the 2k3 series because that is my childhood. And a person's childhood is not to be argued with (sigh).**

 **Enjoy your second whirlwind chapter!**

April had only partly been looking forward to this Halloween bash with her roommate Taylor, and her friends. The clincher was that it was on her first free night in two months. Through immense begging and a character reference from Vernon, Bernadette Thompson had hired her back onto the Channel 6 floor. The vast inner knowledge that April miraculously had on the SAKS tower destruction had helped. But it had come at a price; namely, a full year of getting people's coffee.

 _Only 4 more months._ April reminded herself. But in the meantime, here she was, decked out in black and a red wig- the Black Widow, beside a Madonna, a steam punk witch, and Scarlett O'Hara.

"Here we are." Taylor announced as the foursome stopped at the end of a line that ran alongside a corner building. April innocently pulled out her phone, catching a glance of the street sign.

 _Haddington and Marsh._ April noted and pinned the address to her IM board. Almost instantly, she got a comment.

.MILO sounds Rad! Make room 4 me!

April grinned to herself, slipping the phone back into her boot. Venus de Milo was a simple screen name for the turtles. Any message they sent only capitalized the letters of who she was talking to; in this case, who she'd see! That would be Raph and Mikey! The night suddenly got interesting.

The line was barely a 15 minute wait, leaving April to watch the skyline, engaging in conversation where she could. Taylor was sweet to include her, and she was grateful for the night out, but the latest Hollywood hunks and the newest Gucci handbag line wasn't April's thing. She was more anxious about spotting the guys. This would be the first she'd seen of them- in person- since the whole mess with Saks and Shredder. April understood the discretion though; she never wanted to see them in cages again!

Neon lights pulsed with the music and danced off the glasses lining the bar. The whole vibe of the place begged relaxation and fun, but all April noticed was the massive skylight that made up half of the ceiling. And was that… oh yeah, that was a 3-fingered hand waving at her from a 6-foot shadow.

"April, c'mon!" Taylor waved as the girls were surging forward into the crowd. "Unleash that lethal assassin, girlfriend."

 _Sure thing_. April raised her arm, passing a fleeting wave.

 **}{}{}{}{}{**

 _She waved at me!_ Mikey was about hyperventilating, fogging the skylight as he fiddled with the window lock. He didn't really need it open to hear the music; he'd already tested a few free styling twists and turns when he'd arrived. But he wanted the full-on experience. So long as he didn't leave the roof. One of Master Splinter's rules. However, another had been staying together and Raph had split eight minutes ago, so…

"Open already!" Mikey growled at the stubborn, rusted window. "Open sesame!"

"Planning a trapeze act?"

Just like when April had taken their picture, Mikey froze, hands on the sill. _Oh boy… are you kidding me?!_

"Hope you don't take offense, but what up with your costume?" the voice continued, closer this time. "I get the shell and if I'm not mistaken, those are nunchaku, but the two together? What's the story there?"

"Ugh," Mikey tapped the glass, watching his panicked expression. With a final jerk, the window opened, sending a rush of heat and music vibrating into the night. "Comic book I read once. Kinda put my own twist on it."

"So you're nostalgic. Me too. Say hello to Calamity Jane."

It was an invite to turn around; should he? But Mikey didn't see any other option. He turned to find a red-haired cowgirl standing almost right beside him. Twin guns tucked into a silver belt, dark-brown chaps, and a 10-gallon hat on a 5'6" frame. Shoulder-length red hair was done up into two braids and even with the shadows Mikey made out freckles and bright blue eyes.

"Hope you don't mind the company," Calamity Jane fanned her face leaning on the skylight. "It was getting heavy down there! And I thought it was crowded at 8."

Mikey backed up, unsure of what came next. _I'm soooo ending up in the hashi!_ "You got a head start, then. I just got here."

"Practicing for the main event?" Calamity Jane raised an eyebrow. "They're holding a dance-off at 10."

She'd seen him dancing! Had she been up here when he'd first hopped onto the roof? Mikey blushed. "How long were you watching?"

"Long enough to think you might have a chance." Calamity Jane shrugged, smiling a really cute smile. "Where'd you pick up your moves?"

"MTV."

"Figures." she giggled then, a cute giggle. "I can line dance alright, but my free styling…"

She slashed a hand across her throat and oddly, Mikey relaxed with the motion. She didn't suspect anything. And no way was he missing out on talking with a girl! Even if it wasn't April.

}{}{}{}{}{

April sipped at her beer, despite urgings from the group to chug the stuff. She wasn't looking to get wasted, unless it was on the spiral potatoes they served here. A deep-fried potato was the soul of comfort food!

"Alright!" Danica, a willowy African-American stood, readjusting her Madonna bodice. "Enough of this settling in. Ladies, the dance floor beckons."

No argument there. The atmosphere grew tight as the girls made their way onto the dance floor and let their intuition take over. April stole a few glances upwards, but didn't see a shadow anymore. But one of the left panels of the skylight was open. Had it been before? Probably not.

"April!" Taylor leaned in, shouting in her ear. "Casually glance over your left shoulder and you'll see these two unbelievable hot guys checking you out!"

 _Probably flipping a coin._ April groaned. Seriously, the leering got old. She wasn't apologizing for taking care of her face and body, but it would be nice if someone noticed she took pretty good care of her brain too.

April flipped her fake red curls over her shoulder, glancing at the opposite wall. Taylor was right about the hot part; one was the Flash, with his mask off to reveal a chiseled, blond-haired persona. If April's eyes hadn't shifted right then she might have convinced herself to say hi. But the 3 males huddled just behind the Flash were much more interesting. Not because they weren't in costume, but because of the tattoos April could make out on two of them.

Purple Dragons! Members of the toughest gang on either side of the Hudson! Their rap sheet had started in the late 90s and had steadily risen; only overshadowed by that of the Foot Clan. April's brain sparked alive. The way those guys were standing, hunched over and secretive, they weren't here to eat spiral potatoes.

"I'll catch you later." April mouthed to Taylor.

Taylor gave her a thumbs-up. April was going to need it for what she was about to do. The Purple Dragons were on the move, heading up a wire staircase to a second floor. And so was she, her phone already out.

}{}{}{}{}{

"Oh, Japan was definitely my favorite deployment!" Calamity Jane- aka Imogene 'Emma' Dewitter- was flushed with excitement. She was holding one of Mikey's nunchaku, spinning an end cautiously. Mikey in turn, was inspecting her very real Colt pistol. Apparently her grandparents were avid gun collectors and had been happy to lend her a couple pieces. He twirled the barrel, pointing it out into the night. "How many did you have?"

"11." Emma answered, dragging out the number. "7 in the states and 4 abroad. Japan was our longest though. Three years and I loved every month of it."

That explained how she knew about the nunchaku and ninjutsu and the yo breathing technique. What were the odds he would run into a Navy brat? Ninja karma. Mikey spun the pistol back around with ease. Did she notice how good he was? Because he was noticing how much cuter she was with a name. And her smile... "Here you go, Calamity."

They had already shook hands during introductions, so Mikey didn't flinch away when she took the pistol from his hand. "Thanks. So… Michelangelo, huh?"

"I know," Mikey shook his head. "Corny, right?"

"You heard me say Imogene, right?" Emma snickered. "Either way, it's new."

"Some Renaissance dude." Mikey clarified. "My dad's well read."

"Sounds like our fathers should swap life stories."

 _Your dad couldn't handle it._ Mikey thought, imagining Master Splinter shaking hands with a uniformed Naval commander. The guy would be scared out of his stripes. Interesting how his mind wasn't reeling in fear about the number of ways Master Splinter was going to kill him when this night was over.

"It's getting cold." Emma shuttered, even though her costume sported long sleeves. She looked back through the skylight. "About time we headed back down there." She headed for the door that lead down into the club. She looked back, that cute smile on her face. "You comin'?"

Mikey found himself edging forward when the voice of conscience kicked him in the butt. He retracted his steps. "Uh, not right now. I really don't do well in crowds."

"What?" Emma's brow furrowed curiously. "You don't strike me as the shy type."

"Well, you haven't seen me in a crowd." Mikey reasoned; something he'd never been good at. Emma's eyes studied him, and then gave a thoughtful nod. "True. Though I certainly hope to change that before this night's out."

Mikey's spine suddenly erected. She was flirting with him! How did he normally handle these situations in his head? What would James Bond do? Mikey stole another peek through the skylight. The dancing, the lights… boy, did it look like fun!

 ** _How fun would it be if they realized just how real your costume is?!_** The inner voice nagged him.

 _But they have a DISCO ball!_ Mikey about whimpered. _And a dance contest! I'd clean up for sure! Emma would be impressed by that._

 _ **Are you kidding? What about April?**_

 _We both know Donnie would be happy if I moved on._

 _ **Not to mention the fact that you're underage!**_

"You comin' Michelangelo?" Emma had the door open now, which led down the stairs, which opened up to the party down below.

 ** _Master Splinter's gonna kill you!_** The voice persisted. Mikey took a step forward. "Are you always this pushy with guys you've just met?"

Emma cocked an eyebrow, spinning a pistol on her finger. "Only the intriguing ones."

Mikey didn't know what that word meant, but it was enough to propel him forward.

 **Well, I'm sure this is going to end well.**


	3. Chapter 3

The long room was nothing more then a smoky hut for the big shots to play billiards in. There were tables, each illuminated with the only lights in the whole space. All the rest was in shadow. A stroke of luck for April who hung back in the southwest corner; closest to the door. She'd swiped a waitress' tray of random drinks and it'd taken a smile and an eye bat to get past the two-ton bodyguard on the other side of the door. This bought her maybe three minutes and her phone was already on the tray, recording.

"I've had my final conferences today, boss." one of her unaware informants addressed a mountain of a man playing the middle table with two flunkies. He was clearly in charge, not just because of his size, but the cocky aura of his whole face. He wore pale-blonde hair in a ponytail, a black outfit with a red sash, and a Purple Dragon tattoo wrapped around his right arm. The other five people in the room would be wiped out with one sweep of that arm. April pressed a little farther into her corner.

"Everything will be in place as of 6AM tomorrow morning." The first Purple Dragon said. "And everyone's been read in on their cover stories."

The giant turned his head as he lined up his pole stick. "Everyone, huh?"

"Taken in oath and blood." A Purple Dragon with a black mohawk and wearing a leather vest over a bare, tan chest stepped forward. "No worries Hun. No Dragon's gonna rat on his blood."

"That's good to know, Spider," Hun chuckled. "Such loyalty puts my mind at ease."

 _Just keep those names coming!_ April egged them on excitedly. With the risk she was taking, they better give her something good.

"Yours however, has yet to be proven." Hun now addressed his fellow gangsters. He grinned. "Lucky for you. I've developed the perfect test needed to settle any doubts."

"What'cha talkin' 'bout, Hun?" an African American with brass knuckles, a pierced eyebrow, and a white doo rag wrapped over his head, asked cautiously. Hun acted more interested in his next shot on the pool table. "Boys, you don't study under somebody as powerful as the Shredder without learning a few life lessons."

 _THE SHREDDER!?_ April's throat closed.

"One." Hun took his shot and watched the balls react, leaning on his stick. "No progress can be made without sacrifice."

A silence hit the room. One where April knew everyone except her had received a secret message. The lanky Purple Dragon that stood beside Spider was the first to break the silence. "B-Boss… you can't mean…"

Hun nodded, his grin still in place. "You'll be given your assignments when you leave here. Tell no one; just be there before 11AM tomorrow."

"Are you serious right now?" the Dragon looked around the room, eyes wide and spooked. "Do you guys hear him?"

"It's a countermeasure, Gutter," Spider slung an arm on his shoulder. "You know it's all the usual suspects with the cops in this town. And with Shredder gone, all that's left are his croonies. So, things go down, the cops and fire trucks show up and what do they find? The Purple Dragons licking their wounds and in a very telling mood… for once. We can point them right to the Foot's front door."

"If we're not too busy joining St. Peter at the pearly gates." Gutter shook his arm off.

"You wanna own this city or not?" Hun growled, suddenly up behind Gutter. "Because only the strong survive in New York, chum. Those really willing to put it all on the line."

"We're already putting it on the line, Boss." Jenko hissed. "You know how long it took to get all those parts together? The animosity cost even more then the parts themselves. Cleaned us out."

"And we'll get five times that much back when we get the Floor out of the way," Hun assured him. Gutter narrowed his eyes at him. Hun narrowed his eyes right back at him. "Someone's gotta lead the troops. Unless you think you can do better?"

The challenge came with high implications and high tension. And high music, everyone noticed within the next three seconds. Seriously, April thought she saw the walls vibrating…

"What up?" a fourth Purple Dragon crossed to the door. "I told those lame brains about the sound barriers on this place. We get busted by the zoning department again…"

The door opened, the fat bodyguard poking his head through. "Sorry Mango, but the dance competition's really heating up. Some guy's down there, killing it!"

Mango's eyes flared. "You tell those DJ dimwits, _I'll_ be the one doing the killing if they get my joint written up!"

"Tell 'em yourself." Hun grunted, amused. "We're done here. I enjoy a good dance-off."

Three of the Purple Dragons remained in the room, repacking the balls, while Hun, Spider, and Gutter followed Mango out. April kept still, waiting to slip in behind them to make a discrete exit. Remembering her tray, she chugged a gulp of the Jack Daniels and unloaded the sea salt martini on the table beside her.

Gutter was the last one out and April stepped in behind him, mirroring her earlier wink at the bodyguard. She made it out onto the gang walk, eyeing the stairs to the right, where as Hun and the Dragons were chilling on the railing to the left. The dance-off was the perfect distraction.

 _Smooth walk… confident stance…_ April pep-talked herself away.

"Hey!" Spider yelled out over the music.

April froze. She was pretty sure that her heart stopped too. But then Hun laughed. "Looks like the green one with the moves is moving in on your girl."

The green one?! April forgot about her clean getaway, her head whipping around. The hyped crowd had formed an off-center around a Hawkeye impersonator and…

April's mouth fell open. _Oh, shell!_

}{}{}{}{}{}{

The music pounded mercilessly in Mikey's ears, fueling his dance moves to the fullest extremity. Whoa, he was able to come up with Donnie's big words when he was pumped like this! He ended with a one-handed handstand, sending the crowd whooping and hollering. To his left, Emma waved and clapped. _Oh yeah, she'd only got eyes for the Mikester!_

Mikey front-flipped back onto his feet, egging on the final competition. "Hate to have to do this, Hawkeye! Total fan of your work in _The Avengers_."

The dude was panting, sweating, but there was the good-natured spark of sportsmanship in his eyes. He cranked his popping and locking up, ending in a spinning headstand. The crowd cheered, Mikey smirked. _Cute, cute…_

"Cowabunga!' Mikey cried, cycling into ninja moves he'd mixed into his footwork, including his own 'whirling dervish'. His nunchaku joined in halfway through. _Now_ _ **this**_ _is what I call training!_

Hawkeye stared in amazement, then graciously bowed out, clapping with the rest of the club.

"Ghouls, goblins, and aliens!' the DJ announced. "We have this year's dancin' fool! Give it up for the man!"

Oh, they were giving it up alright! Mikey held both fists in the air, and couldn't resist a bow before someone tapped him on the shoulder. A freaky zombie man shoved a slip of paper into his hand. "Congrats, man."

Luckily he came and went before he could notice that Mikey's hand only had three fingers. Mikey stepped back from the spotlight and back over to Emma. They put their heads together so they could hear, glancing at the paper.

"Not even!" Mikey grinned. "8 free pizzas? Best. Night. Ever!"

Emma laughed, punching his arm. "See? Crowds aren't so bad."

"Guess I have you to thank for that." Mikey smiled at her. He imagined their eyes meeting and sparks flying, even though the whole shy guy thing had been a bluff.

 ** _Then what genius? Ya gonna kiss her?_**

Mikey pictured it, along with a lot of other things happening in the next minute. But a shove to the side was not one of them.

"Mind your distance, pal!"

Mikey was barely thrown off balance, but the element of surprise left him open to a solid sock in the mouth. He stumbled back into a couple of dancers who didn't take kindly to a grimy shell interrupting their groove. Mikey straightened to find himself facing three guys, a mohawked, leather-clad bozo with mean eyes standing at the head. His clenched fist pegged him as the culprit.

"Spider!" Emma cried, grabbing the guy's fist angrily.

She knew this guy? Spider spun on her, obviously angry himself. This didn't daunt Emma though, shifting her glare on all three of the herd. "Can you guys _not_ be jerks for one minute? Get outta here!"

"Not until I teach this hotshot some boundaries." Spider cracked his neck, glaring at Mikey. Mikey snorted. "Boundaries? Am I wearing an electric dog collar?"

Spider's muscular croonie with a brown rattail, red pants, and pierced nose, smirked. "You'll be wearing a body cast if you don't back off Spider's girl."

Emma pushed Spider back into him and the lanky third wheel. Why did all three of them have the same tattoo? If it wasn't of a rad dragon, it would be totally corny.

"I'm nobody's girl and you know it." Emma's lividity was growing with each word.

"Well, that's not what we heard." the muscle man chuckled, nudging Spider. Emma rolled her eyes, passing them to Mikey. "Mikey, you ok?"

Mikey smiled. "Cute as ever."

"Mikey!" a harsh voice interjected and Mikey brightened as April appeared… in a Black Widow outfit. _Red hair… not her best look._

"April, did you see me!" Mikey greeted her eagerly. "I totally killed it! Look what I…"

"Dad called." April stared at him icily, already pushing him towards the exit. "Something's up at home. Time to go."

She was pushing him farther away and Mikey found himself torn. He was flattered that April was going to such lengths to protect him, but he was having too much fun. And Emma… what sort of gentleman would he be to leave her in the lurch?

"Hey buddy," Spider stomped after them. "I'm not finished with you yet!"

"Spider…" Emma huffed.

Mikey looked back into one fuming face. He shrugged. "Well, I'm done with you. Looks like Emma is done with you too, so…"

This punch he saw coming, easily blocked it, and sent Spider flailing back with a front kick to the breastbone. Spider hit the ground in shock. Emma's eyes widened. Mikey winked at her. "I cook too, gorgeous."

"Hope you know how to come back from the dead." Spider roared, diving for Mikey's legs.

He wasn't alone in this attack. His two flunkies joined in, each gripping an arm. Now, upon reflection, Mikey knew he was the shortest of his brothers. He was also the slowest when it came to strategy, as Donnie never failed to point out. But he had been dodging Raph's angry punches and head slaps for 15 years and if that didn't teach you instinct, nothing could. Sidestep, happa ken, duck, dragon punch, round kick, and all 3 were down without even getting a hit in.

"Look dudes," Mikey held up his hands. "I'm not here to fight…"

"Too late." Red Pants was the first up, breathing heavy. And pointing a gun straight at Mikey's chest.

"Tito!" Emma screamed.

"Hey!" April called his attention, coming at him from the side and sending a tray into his face. Where did she get a tray? April yelped as Spider suddenly appeared, shoving her back. Mikey shot forward, grabbing Spider's vest and head-butted the creep. A move that effectively dropped the dude back on top of Gutter. "You and I've got different ideas about how to treat a lady, dude."

Mikey moved to help April up, but there was an explosion of sound, followed by a wicked pain in his right arm. He reacted in kind, letting go of April's hand and clutching his arm to his side.

"Mikey!" April screamed, along with the rest of club that started stampeding for the nearest exits. Mikey looked back to see Tito and Emma wrestling with the gun. Emma sent a knee into his groin, getting her the gun. She threw it across the room and hurried up to them.

"He's hit." April pushed herself up, eyeing Mikey fearfully. He took a deep breath, feeling blood between his fingers. It was coming from both his arm and ribs. Was that bad or worse? "Um…"

"I'll call Vern and he can meet us in the ally with the van." April said, phone out. Mikey nodded. _Guess that old guy's good for something._

"You gotta phone?" Emma came around, touching Mikey's shoulder. "Call 911…"

Her voice dried out when she saw the blood; and the subsequent realness of Mikey's green skin. She blinked, did a double take, then retracted her hand. "Wh-What…"

April grabbed her arm and shook her. "I need to get him out before the police get here."

Emma tore her gaze from Mikey to April in confusion. April's grip tightened, her eyes turning fierce. "Help him; please!"

Emma gave another blink, then a nod. "There's a side entrance under the stairs."


	4. Chapter 4

It took Vern almost 12 minutes to arrive in the alley alongside the club. Luckily all the attention had been driven around the front. On any other night, April would be up front too, taking statements right along with the officers. But instead she crouched behind a set of dumpsters, after helping Mikey outside and letting Emma apply pressure to his side with the elastic wrapping from her wig. She never would've thought of that, even if April wasn't one to freak out. She was close to though, if Vern didn't get here…

Taillights hit her in the face and April shielded her eyes as the Channel 6 van backed in. Vern threw open the back doors. "O'Neil, I realize that you're anxious to take hold of these young years and every opportunity they present, but I happen to be comfortable with the pace I've set for myself…"

He stopped when he saw Mikey trying to push himself up. "Whoa… uh, which one is he, again?"

"It's Mikey." April reminded him, offended that she still had to. Vern's face changed. "The one who blew up my Fenwick Express! You brought _him_ to a party? No wonder there are cops around."

"Vern!" April snapped her fingers in her face. "Focus! Mikey's been shot and we… we need…"

Her mind had been spinning so much, she hadn't bothered to think up a plan. She'd only been in contact with the turtles through IM, which wasn't the same as having a phone number. Donnie would have the medical know-how probably, but April had forbidden them from telling her where their new lair was. And there was a BULLET in Mikey and it needed to not be in him!

"Take us to 68 Athens Street." Emma suddenly spoke. She had been quietly taking the minutes in stride; abnormally so and she made April uncomfortable enough. April narrowed her eyes. "Why?"

"I'm a veterinary student at a clinic there." Emma explained.

"Who's she?" Vern asked, but April ignored him. She looked at Emma suspiciously now. "And?"

Emma took a shaky breath. "Well, unless I missed my guess, _he_ needs medical attention and a hospital isn't one of your options."

"So we're supposed to trust you?" April moved a little closer to Mikey. Emma only pointed to the blood that was soaking through the elastic pressed into his side. "Trust me or not, but that bullet hit his brachial artery and I can only focus on stopping the bleeding after I get it out, which needed to happen 10 minutes ago!"

"April," Mikey put in warily. "It's ok. I trust her."

That seemed good enough for Emma. "I'll drive."

"No you won't!" Vern cried. "This is Channel 6 property…"

"You don't know the way," Emma pointed out, knocking the keys out of his hands. "And, no offense Mikey, but I kinda need a minute."

 _A minute to what?_ April panicked. _Alert the media? Notify Area 51?_

"No sweat, dudette." Mikey laughed it off, only to cringe in pain.

He hadn't brought up the three mutant brothers that he could call to come pick him up in their revved up garbage truck. Sounded like he really trusted her. April waited for Vern to take Mikey's other side and they lead him into the back of the van. Vern muttered something about blood stains, which was a good point, but one they couldn't think on right now. April climbed in, scanning the alley ahead. She waved the all clear to the cab and slammed the doors as they pulled away.

"Easy there, Mike." Vern eased the turtle on the floor among the various equipment. April moved some of it under the editing desk bolted into the van's side, frantically grabbing the rough rags used to keep the cameras clean.

"My guess is the blood should've stopped flowing by now." Vern noted, taking a rag. Mikey let them pad up his arm and side, wincing at the pressure. "Deja vu, anybody?"

"There weren't bullets last time." April said, bracing herself as the van turned. "Just relax, Mikey. We got you."

"Who's the third wheel?" Vern nodded up front. Emma's blue eyes flitted in the rearview mirror.

"That's Calamity Jane." Mikey grinned. "Don't be mad, Angel Cakes, but we sorta sparked tonight."

April smiled. "Always knew I'd have some competition."

Again, Mikey started to laugh, but winced. "OW!"

"Yo breathing." Emma called back to him. "Start your yo breathing."

Mikey twisted his neck to look at her. "How'd you know I…"

"Three years in Japan, remember." Emma shrugged. "Slow your heart rate down, get the blood to stop pumping. It'll take us another 10 minutes to reach the clinic."

"Right," Vern eyed her. "Yoohoo breathing… how is it that you're not freaking out right now? I mean, talking turtle and everything."

"Still here, dude." Mikey grumbled.

"I'm compartmentalizing." Emma hanged a left. "I'm really good at that. He's wounded, I can help. He's a real life talking terrapin with a sense of humor and more moves then Michael Jackson…I'll freak over that later."

"Ok, cool," Vern accepted that. "I still go through denial at least once a week, but that's great…" He looked over at April. "Next question; What happened?"

"He picked a fight with the Purple Dragons." April told him, laying the gravity of that name slowly. Mikey lifted his head. "Hey, who drew first…"

"Focus on your breathing!" April and Emma both ordered him, shutting him up but good. April sighed, going back to Vern. "I invited the- Mikey- to this Halloween party, thinking he could enjoy the tunes on the roof."

"Your first mistake." Vern snickered.

"Next thing I know, he's winning a dance-off and talking with her…" April jerked a finger at Emma. "And this Spider guy's all up in his face. Then Tito pulls a gun…"

"Hold it!" Vern let go of his rag, which April clumped in with the others. "Vern!"

"O'Neil, how do you know their names?"

Oh yeah! Medical emergency almost forgotten, April beamed. "Because they told me. Along with Hun, Jenko, and all the others in the meeting."

"What meeting?" all three asked her.

}{}{}{}{}{}{

Police sirens were the roosters of NYC! You could set your watch by them. That's why Raph didn't bat an eye upon first hearing the long and loud WHIRRR of the squads. Until he realized where they were coming from. _Mikey!_

He swung himself between 2 chimneys, back-flipping onto the rooftop facing the club where he and Mikey had split up. Two policemen with flashlights went back and forth over the roof. There were three others checking through the alley and plenty of shushing and cussing coming from the front of the building where arrests were being made. Raph fidgeted between anger and concern. He left the goofball for one hour- one hour!- and now NYPD were scouring all over the block! Raph's gaze shifted over the whole scene, scanning for his brother. No cocky arm waved to him from the shadows, no imitation owl hooting…

"I'm sick of these Purple Dragons firing off whenever they feel like it." one officer spat from the roof. "Half the force's been running ragged trying to keep them in line. Then they hop out on bail and we're stuck with the paperwork."

"I hear ya," the cop's partner growled. "I thought things were gonna get easier with the Foot Clan fading out like they have. Turns out they were just making room for this free-loading scum."

 _Form a brute squad, then._ Raph suggested with a smirk. He rarely made movie references, but this one seemed appropriate. Raph waited the officers out, then began back tracking to the manhole five streets over. He would check back at the lair. His story for sensei would be that he was racing Mikey home and, naturally, he had won. If the bonehead wasn't home by midnight though, he'd be forced to spill. Then they'd both be in hot water.


	5. Chapter 5

"We're here." Emma announced as the van jerked to a stop; why'd her voice sound so fuzzy? Mikey was feeling light-headed. It might be a good thing because finally something was dulling the pain in his arm. He folded another breath out through the nose, following with a slow take into the mouth…

"I didn't get blood on your TV did I?" Mikey asked April, sitting up; man, did he feel dizzy! April gently grabbed his good arm. "Nothing Clorox can't fix. Let's get you inside."

Vern opened the doors and their ears were met with barking and howling. Mikey grinned. "Aw, doggies…"

"Up we go, Green Boy," Vern hoisted him to his feet. "One foot in front of the other. Follow the pretty college girl."

Mikey laughed. "Yeah… have I told you how pretty you are, Emma? I probably should in case…"

"In case nothing." April jumped in firmly.

They shuffled Mikey to a pair of double doors, which Emma unlocked and opened to a kennel. They walked through it, a pair of swinging doors, and into a Grey's Anatomy set for animals. Emma moved past metal cabinets and shelves, pointing to a long slab table. "Our biggest concern is gonna be the blood loss… torn muscle will heal on its own… get him up on the table…"

The fun-loving cowgirl from earlier was gone; Dr. Imogene was in the house. She moved from a giant sink, to a shelf, and back again like a Jedi-master. Plus, Mikey was enjoying her movements in those chaps…

"I'm gonna administer an IV," Emma was speaking to April. "And start extraction on the bullet before I can sew anything up."

"Alright Mikey," April nudged him over. "Up we go."

Seriously, April doting and a hot nurse… Donnie was going to be _soooo_ jealous! He settled onto the table, Emma's hand suddenly on his shell. "I know it's tempting Mikey, but…"

She chose that moment to grasp the reality that she was instructing a 6-foot turtle on his health. And she had his hand on his enormous shell. She stopped and stared; then took to poking it, testing its toughness. Weak or not, Mikey let her. Might as well get it over with.

"Wicked." Emma whispered. "How is this even possible…"

"Hello!" April snapped her fingers in Emma's ear. "The IV!"

"Uh… yeah, sorry," Emma shook it off. "The fridge."

She crossed the room and unlocked a mini fridge, returning with a plastic bag of clear fluid. She rolled over a metal stand and hooked the bag onto the hanger. "Arm- your good arm- please."

"Sure thing." Mikey smiled, raising it to flex his bicep, except the effort exhausted him. But his smile faded when Emma raised a shiny needle and attached it to the end of some tubing. "Uh, what's that?"

"A needle." Emma said simply, connecting the tubing to the bag.

"I don't like needles." Mikey squirmed.

"Too bad, you're getting one."

With that there was a prick and some tape slapped tightly over the under side of his elbow. Mikey bit back a yelp, shuttering. With that Saks guy 8 months ago, the needles had been taking his life, not giving it. He squinted as Emma switched on a bright overhead light. "I need to swab and bandage your side before I take the bullet. Then I'm gonna have to, well, dig the slug out. Likely I'll have to widen the hole. Then I'll stitch the gash up."

"Get on it." Mikey nodded, trying not to think on it too hard. He looked over at April. "Did I tell you how hot your costume looks without the wig?"

"Only 3 times." Vern rolled his eyes. April crossed her arms, embarrassed. "The party was a last minute decision and it was all they had at the store."

"Thanks for inviting me." Mikey said.

"I wish I hadn't," April frowned at him. "Do you have any idea who you were fighting?"

"A boy scout?"

It was in that moment, Emma pressed an alcohol-soaked cloth to his side. Mikey jerked away with a gasp.

"Serves you right." April said. "You were going toe-to-toe with a leader in the Purple Dragons, genius."

"Yeah, I heard all about him in the van." Mikey clenched his teeth. "Snivel."

"Spider." Emma corrected, removing the rag with a grim look. "A real egotist with a temper to match. He doesn't care for being bested." She paused, her hand holding a clean cloth to Mikey's side. "Amazing… a caprese bigger then my hand."

"What!?" Mikey scooted back, confused.

"The layers of skin and tissue between your plastron and shell." Emma explained. She eyed him curiously. "Surely I don't have to explain your own anatomy to you."

Mikey grinned sheepishly. "Beauty and brains. No wonder Spider's your boy."

"He's no 'boy' of mine." Emma spat. She threw the dirty rag aside, only to grab another. "And you're just lucky that Hun didn't join in your little scrape."

"Hun?" April took a few steps forward. "He's the leader of all leaders. Just how well do you know the Purple Dragons?"

"How well do you know them?" Emma deflected the question. The two girls stared at each other and Mikey watched them. _Chick fight, chick fight, chick fight…_

"O'Neil." Vern broke it up before the alpha female could be determined. "Bleeding reptile aside, have you any idea the implications of that recording on your phone? This city's been a festering power struggle for months now. Maybe the flame's finally gonna hit the powder keg and Channel 6'll be there to catch it."

April's excited smile returned. "This is also going to get me off coffee duty." She lit up her phone's screen. "It's 10:46… that gives me plenty of time to prep Thompson for the 6AM segment."

"Lift your arm." Emma instructed. Mikey obeyed, not easy since it had gotten stiff and sore in its position. And oh yeah, there was still a bullet in it! Emma produced a scalpel and forceps and Mikey concentrated on the conversation. "What about… telling the cops? If these Purple Dragons are planning something big, lots of people could get hurt."

"Like they haven't already been hurt." April grumbled. "Ever since Shredder's downfall, all Foot Clan activity has almost vanished. Leaving the streets for the Purple Dragons to extort, intimidate, and tag. I'm not saying that I miss the Foot, but at least they were stealthy about their activity."

"I know right," Mikey sighed wistfully. "They're so noisy, with no coordination whatsoever. At least with the Foot there was a challenge."

"How about dodging a bullet." Emma mentioned and with a slow, agonizing yank, she presented the bloody slug. Vern groaned, looking away. Mikey would've got on his case, but he wasn't feeling 100% at the sight of it either. If it bugged Emma she didn't let on, stepping away to wash her bloody hands in the sink. Her calmness helped Mikey remain calm.

"No, Channel 6 first," April insisted, not noticing the extracted bullet. "Thompson won't forgive us if we hand this over to the cops before her. We'll make copies of the recording, call some officers, and have them meet us at the station."

"You really think they'll believe us- you- over the phone?" Vern pushed off the cabinet he had been leaning on. "Remember when we interviewed 'anonymous' tipsters? It's no wonder the police don't take _real_ tips seriously."

"But this is more then a tip, Vern!" April waved her phone at him. "This's evidence…"

The screen lit up and started blaring a Peter Gabriel song.

"The evidence wants to talk to you." Mikey joked. April gave him a look. "No, Venus de Milo does."

 _Oh no!_ Mikey leaned back, crossing a finger across his throat. 'Baby' April mouthed, answering the phone. "Hello…"

"PUT MIKEY ON THE PHONE!" Leo's angry voice screamed through the room. Was it too late to bleed to death? April shrugged and handed her phone to him. Mikey took it shakily. "Hey bro, what's…"

"Michelangelo!" an enraged hiss cut him off. "Sensei is the least of your worries 'cuse I'm going to kill you!"

"Whoa," Mikey cried. "Leo, take a breath! Dude, you sound like Raph!"

"Don't change the subject!" Leo spat. "It's not going to save you this time."

 _I can almost feel him glaring at me!_ Mikey shuttered. "Look, I can explain… hold on, how did you guys know where I was?"

"We don't." Leo huffed. "Raph got back 20 minutes ago and explained how you two went solo. But we know where you've been."

"Huh?"

"… shell for brains!" Leo was ranting. "What were you thinking…"

His voice faded and was replaced with Don's. "Mikey, I'm putting you on speaker. It might interest you to know that in the last 6 minutes and 9 seconds, I've had to delete over 85 videos, in hopes to ensure that there are no more public displays of your Hudson Hurricane!"

A move he'd made up when they were 10 and one he had used to score the Dancing Fool title! The whole crowd had probably taped that one. Hmm… "What angle did I look best from?"

"Mikey!" Donnie cried. "Is that really all you have to say?!"

"That and I won." Mikey told him.

"I don't… wait, really? You won?"

"A coupon for free pizza!" Mikey chuckled. "C'mon Don, it's Halloween! Nobody's gonna think twice about a walking, talking, handsome-looking turtle."

"A friend of Saks' might," Donnie said. "Or a Foot solider enjoying his day off."

"And?" Mikey threw up his arm; big mistake! "OWOWOWOW!"

"What?" Donnie groaned. "Did you stub your toe?"

"I hate to break this up," Emma yanked his arm back down, keeping them both clear of her needle. She had threaded it and had begun attacking the ripped skin along Mikey's side. "Whatever _this_ is, but now that I've got the bullet out…"

"Bullet!" Don asked frantically. Mikey held the phone out to April. "You tell 'em. They won't want to murder you."

"Donnie?" April spoke sweetly into the phone. "Yeah, things got a little rough at the club… yes, Purple Dragons were involved. Mikey… Mikey got shot. No, nonono, it's fine…" April waved nonchalantly at Emma. "He's being taken care of. We found a doctor…"

"The dude she's speaking to," Emma leaned in, sewing another stitch. "Is he, um, like you?"

"Not really." Mikey bit his lip. "Picture at least five inches taller and glasses… and a purple bandana."

Her face! "How… How many of you are there?"

"Four. And our dad. Who's… a rat."

"Huh…" Emma nodded, like you would at a mental patient. Then she turned back to her final stitches. How had she not fainted yet? It had taken April less then 15 seconds.


	6. Chapter 6

So far their only stroke of luck was that Splinter's meditation room was across a line of sewage and a few pipes over. Otherwise, they would have been dead in the water when Raph first came back alone. Leo's fury only subsided a little when Donnie told them that Mikey had been shot. "Which of your theories ended with that, Don?"

"8 of them." Donnie replied, still listening to April. "He's being treated by a girl he met at the club… needed stitches and an IV… she had to extract the bullet."

Raph grunted from the couch. "Anymore good news?"

"Anymore good news?" Donnie innocently relied to April. Leo and Raph shared a look. _Geek._

Donnie's eyes widened and his glasses slipped down his nose. "April overheard some Purple Dragons planning an attack on the city."

Leo sat down just in time for Raph's sai to go flying over his head and into the opposite wall. "Great. Just great."

"The ole turtle luck running true to form." Leo finished for him.

}{}{}{}{}{

While Emma getting the bullet out had nearly caused him to lose consciousness, staying still during the stitching had been next to impossible. Mikey had breathed in relief when Emma had tied off the last stitch. However, she was adamant about keeping the IV in for 24 hours. That said, it became clear that Mikey couldn't just hop home. You got it… he was spending the night! The clinic opened at 9am tomorrow morning. His brothers would be collecting him at 6am, while things were still dark. Until now, Emma had been cool with him, but how would she do when there were 3 more of him to comprehend?

"So, are you gonna ask me any questions?" Mikey asked Emma. She was again washing blood off her hands, as well as the tools she had used, while Mikey shoved his second McDonald's Double Cheeseburger into his mouth. He needed the electrolytes, according to her. Vern had picked it up, and then he and April had split to pursue her Purple Dragon lead, with Donnie's help, naturally.

Emma turned form the sink, her eyes nervous, yet thoughtful. "Should I be asking questions? I wouldn't even know what to ask. Frankly, I'm freaked out…"

 _Oh._ Mikey's chest fell a little.

"But," Emma continued. "I wasn't freaked out by the guy on the roof. He seemed cool, funny, if not a little childish."

That perked Mikey up. "Keep talking, gorgeous."

"You throw nicknames out to all the girls you meet?" Emma snorted. "I mean, these aren't the qualities I should be finding in a… a turtle. I mean, that is what you are, right?"

"Oh, I'm more then that," Mikey unsheathed a nunchaku. "I'm a teenage mutant… hey!"

Mikey pulled a white-n-orange tabby cat out of his fries. Emma laughed. "Sorry. We picked him out of an alley last week. We're not supposed to let animals roam, but he's too cute to say no to."

"Awww…" Mikey's heart melted at the tiny nose and whiskers. "You want some fries little guy?"

That's when Emma laughed. Like 2 chuckles short of the Joker laughed. She leaned against the sink, holding her stomach as her face turned red. Mikey looked like her, then at the cat curling up in his lap. "I- I guess this is you freaking out, huh?"

"Yeah…" Emma gasped. Then snorted again. "I guess… I guess it is. I'm sorry, I'm sorry… ok…" She slowed down enough to wipe her eyes. "Here's a question. Is Michelangelo your real name?"

Mikey nodded. "You can see why I prefer Mikey. What about Imogene?"

Emma came over, popping a fry in her mouth. "I'm named after my great-grandmother. Even when there were numerous possibilities… I was born in Wales, you know."

"Navy assignment for your dad?" Mikey guessed.

"Vacation, actually." Emma took a composing breath. "But my whole life can be summarized through my dad's deployments. Born in Wales, learned to walk in Africa, rode without training wheels in Kauai, and pulled through puberty in Anchorage."

"Whoa." Mikey scarfed some more fries. "When was Japan?"

"After Anchorage." Emma unhooked the now-empty bag from the IV stand. "We were there until I graduated. Now it's NYC for a PhD in Marine Biology. The clinic's part of my freshman hours."

"So, you like animals," Mikey cuddled the cat. Emma smiled, tossing the bag and replacing it. "I like the water. Marine biology's a good mix of the two. Dolphins, seals, whales, otters, turtles." She blushed, pushing one of her braids back over her shoulder. "I'll never look at them the same way again."

"No, buddy." Mikey pulled the cat back from clawing his IV tube. "Is this _really_ necessary?"

"It'll accelerate your red blood cell replication." Emma explained. "And you're gonna have it in for awhile, so make do."

Mikey looked down. "On a table where you neuter dogs?"

"Good point!" Emma laughed. "There's a lounge toward the front of the clinic, if you want to swing it there."

"Do you have a TV?" Mikey asked, hopefully.

"I have a laptop and a lifetime subscription to Netflix."


	7. Chapter 7

It was after 2am by the time Vern finally pulled up to the Channel 6 building. After leaving the clinic, they had driven to April's apartment where she could change clothes and collect all her notes that were scattered all over the place. Naturally, she had been following all the Foot and Purple Dragon activity throughout the city in the last few months.

Where did she find the time?

After loading her folders, laptop, and camcorder into the van, he had needed coffee; black, extra sugar. That bought him enough time to convince April to at least stop by the 57th precinct, get an officer to listen to her recording, if not accompany them to Channel 6. Well, a burly officer with a mustache to rival Tom Selleck did listen to the tape, but ended up not finding it creditable. He stated that half the names used were phony, and with gave no definitive locations.

After that, Vern had grabbed his 2nd cup of coffee, from the precinct's break room to save time on finally getting to the Channel 6 building. He put the van in park and stared ahead. There were colors and sounds, all blended together. None of them made any sense…

"Vern, c'mon!" April shook his shoulder.

"Yeah," Vern mumbled weakly as she jumped out, slamming the door. "On it… right behind you…"

She'd already cleared her stuff out of the back by the time he made it around the van. That reminded him of the blood-stained floor that would need to be sucked out before anyone saw it. April didn't seem to notice as she handed him her laptop. She was murmuring something about a timeline she had constructed. Vern let her babble, following zombie-like through the doors, up the stairs, down the hall, and onto the elevator. Only when the doors closed, did April stop to take a breath.

"You know," Vern seized the moment, knowing it was the only one he'd get. "Last time you blindsided Thompson with a bunch of notes, you got fired."

April looked at him. "And?"

"I'm just saying," Vern rushed on. "Maybe pat your hair down a little, put some lip gloss on…"

She still just looked at him.

"Maybe make it look like you have all your thoughts in order… ok, I'll shut up now." Vern coughed and stared intently at the elevator buttons.

"Thank you." April nodded.

The elevator dinged onto their floor and even though she was carrying the bulk of their material, April surged through the sea of desks and monitors, Vern staggering to keep up. He agonized over his own hairline as they charged into Bernadette Thompson's office The woman's dark eyes looked up over her rimless glasses. "O'Neil, Fenwick, what…"

"Mrs. Thompson," Vern nodded politely. "We're sorry about the barge-in…"

"Listen!" April commanded, putting her phone on the desk and pressing PLAY. "A few members of the Purple Dragons held a meeting 4 hours ago and I got it all on tape!"

The door opened and a nervous-looking face poked in. "Mrs. Thompson…"

"Out, Lenny." Bernadette waved at him.

All were quiet as they listened to the conversation; this was April and Vern's third time through and Vern worried he'd hearing it in his sleep. If he ever got any in the foreseeable future.

The tape ended and Bernadette hardly had time to sigh before April was shoving a diagram in her face. "For weeks we've been running how this city is getting torn between the Dragons and the Foot Clan and I've been coordinating the activity of both groups with this map. It's been going back and forth since Saks' arrest because he was the Foot's financial support.'

'This gives the Purple Dragons the space they need to even be in the game and now it's all coming to a head," she jabbed a finger at her phone. "They're going to be sending a message and their going to send it in less then 12 hours."

Lenny coughed, reminding everyone of his presence. "Uh, far be it for me to comment, but… should we call the police?"

"Lenny, I said out." Bernadette pointed at the door and the guy was gone. She eyed April carefully. "I take it you weren't stupid enough NOT to take this to the police."

"I was the one who suggested it…" Vern started.

"Was I talking to you?" Bernadette asked. Vern bowed his head. "No, you weren't."

"They wouldn't believe us." April said grudgingly.

Bernadette started pacing behind her desk, her thinking face on. "Ok, ok, you're thinking the 6am news I take it?"

April nodded excitedly. "Yes."

"You have any ideas about _where_ the Purple Dragons could make their statements?"

"A few."

"Lay 'em on me."

}{}{}{}{}{}{

Lenny made sure that he was two floors down and looked in the newsroom before he hit the #9 speed dial on his cell.

"What'd ya want?" an angry voice answered on the third ring. "I'm in the middle…"

"It sounds like you're in the middle of getting wasted." Lenny whispered. "Spider, we got trouble. "That meeting you had with Hun tonight? Who was there?"

There was an annoyed pause. "Anybody that needed to be."

"That include April O'Neil of Channel 6 News?" Lenny asked, yanking at his tie. Boy, did he hate office apparel!

"April O'Neil?!" Spider repeated. "Dark hair, killer lips and hips?"

"Is there any other." Lenny muttered to himself. "She's with the boss lady right now, playing her a recording of that meeting. She got you, Tito, Jenko, and Hun all on her phone, talking over the plans for tomorrow."

Another pause. Then streams of loud, obnoxious cursing. "I saw her there… I knew I did! She jumped to that guy's defense…"

"Spider!" Lenny tried to keep a whisper. "Focus. What do you want me to do?"

Spider seethed, regaining control of his mouth. "We wanted this to make the news 1 way or the other; but once this goes down, the cops will put 2 and 2 together. You trash O'Neil and that recording."

"She'll be in with the boss for awhile." Lenny contemplated his choices. Spider cussed again. "Erasing the recording will be easy; that's why you're in the tech crew there. First chance you get though, you waste O'Neil. Let her be a part of our message to this city. The Purple Dragons are in control and they are everywhere."

"What're you gonna do?" Lenny asked. "I heard the recording, man. Hun's having you guys…"

"Mind your own business." Spider snapped and hung up.


	8. Chapter 8

Emma's watch beeped at 7 minutes until 3am. Her eyes opened, but refused to focus. Nonetheless, she dragged herself off the couch. The glow of her computer screen dimly lit the lounge. After running to her dorm for a change of clothes and her laptop, Emma had took it upon herself to introduce Michelangelo- Mikey- to Japanese anime. They'd fallen asleep in the 5th episode of Ouran High School Host Club. Going off of Mikey's emotional responses, Emma wondered how he'd react to finding out Haruchi's dad was a transvestite.

Her vision cleared as she stepped around the sleeping turtle on the floor to the pole holding his IV. Nope, not a dream. She was treating and hanging out with a giant, mutated turtle; at least, she'd hang out with him for 24 hours and then his IV would run out.

 _Then what?_ Emma thought, unhooking the bag. Did she just go back to normal living, knowing that there were 4 turtles and a rat living beneath the city. Emma shuttered, exiting the lounge. _What a way to live!_

It was really remarkable from a biologist's point of view. Tiny box turtles, infused and equipped with human qualities and characteristics, only super-charged! Mikey was certainly more muscular then any other turtle she'd ever seen! And funny… this was just too insane. She was going to start laughing again and she didn't want to wake Mikey up. She left the lounge and re-entered the clinic. She unlocked the fridge with the IV bags.

"Late night?"

Emma jumped up and spun around, the IV bag posed as a weapon. Spider walked out of the shadows with an amused grin. "Really?"

Dread and annoyance filled her stomach. "How'd you get in here?"

"A single deadbolt?" Spider smirked. "Don't insult my intelligence."

"Why should I give up on something so easy." Emma retorted, closing the fridge with her foot. She wasn't turning her back on him. "Now get out."

He sidled up beside her. "I just got here. Wanted to check on you after that little rough housing at the club."

"How'd you know…"

"Whenever you're not at the dorm, I usually find you here." Spider smiled arrogantly, letting her smell the beer. "And you think I don't pay attention to you…"

"I'm serious, Spider." Emma growled, her mind whirling. She was only wearing an over-sized white panda T-shirt and black jeggings; more relaxed apparel then she cared to be viewed in. On top of that, Spider couldn't know that Mikey was here. Wait a second… "You were unconscious when I left. Did you just get out of the police station or Medical General?"

"What, were you worried?" Spider drew back, leaning on the table where Mikey had sat earlier. "I wasn't the one who got shot, remember? Who's the bag for?"

On top of all the other reasons to hate him, the fact that he was smart was in the top 5. Emma calmly concealed the bag in her hand. "One of our dogs is malnourished; we can't get him to eat, so I have to stick him with a needle."

"Mind if we hang out while you do?" Spider crossed his arms. "We could talk, catch up…"

His persistence caused Emma to snort. "Get lost, Spider."

She walked past him briskly, heading into the kennel. Which dog would give her the least trouble if she temporarily struck him with some extra glucose? She stopped short, seeing Tito holding a staring contest with the Australian Shepherd while Gutter patted the 3-legged beagle in his cage. She bit her lip to keep from panicking. "Boys. You already made bail?"

Gutter snickered. "Other way, sweetheart. We had to bail the big man out."

"Only because you cowards left me behind." Spider snarled. He slinked an arm around Emma's shoulders. "But we got it all squared away with the nice guys at the station. Then we had to go check a few of the hospitals, trying to find that wise-nut…"

"Yeah." Tito chuckled, standing. "I figured I owed him an apology."

"I'm sure; good luck with that." Emma shoved Spider's arm off, unlocking Greta's cage. She was in for intestine problems and as mellow as a kitten. She kept her eyes on the chocolate lab, aware of Spider kneeling beside her. "So you don't know where he is then?"

Emma adjusted the needle into the IV bag. "And I'd know, why?"

"You and him were pretty chummy tonight." Spider shrugged. "Makes people wonder; I mean, you know how people talk, right guys?"

"Sure do." Tito and Gutter backed him up; little puppets obeying their master. Emma gave a deep sigh, administered the IV for Greta, stood, and turned to look Spider in the eye. "He went to a hospital, but his family picked him up after he got stitches. His wounds were only superficial, case you were wondering, Tito."

Tito's square jaw hardened. "I don't know what you _think_ you saw…"

"What's the guy's address?" Spider cut in. Emma stopped his hand from touching her arm. "All he said was he'd look me up on Facebook. You should congratulate yourself because I think you scared him off."

Spider sniffed. "Guy was too high-n-mighty for you anyway."

 _'_ _Specially if he could take you down._ Emma thought, but kept it in. "It's late, Spider. I'm going home and I'm sure you have a city block to terrorize before sunup."

"Emma," Spider blocked the doors, Tito and Gutter tightening the space behind them. "Seriously, what is this hard-to-get bit you keep handing me? I'm a likable guy, able to make it worth your while. And it's obvious I like you…"

Emma gritted her teeth. "I've made my reason pretty clear to you, Spider. For the last 6 months."

The beer breath got closer, tickling her ear. "You don't know what you're missing."

"You mean a puffed-up, narcissistic crock."

Gutter and Tito stifled laughs. Emma eyed them, gauging her distances, then looked back at Spider. "You don't like me, Spider. I'm just something to accomplish and later brag about."

"If you're still upset over what happened to Carson, I get that." Spider rubbed a hand over her shoulder and up her neck. "But I ain't gonna wait…" His grip tightened. "forever."

Emma's cerebral cortex was flashing its neon DANGER sign. But she wasn't going to be intimidated by Spider. "Not forever," she grabbed his wrist and pressing her thumb into his palm, loosening his fingers. "Just for a million, zillion years."

She had already heard Tito coming up behind her. Retaining hold of Spider's wrist, Emma sent a backwards kick into his chest. Her next move would've been a knee into Spider's chest, but he was suddenly pulled through the doors, out of her grasp. Emma blinked, then caught the doors before they swung closed. There was Spider sprawled halfway across the clinic with Mikey over him, nunchaku at the ready. _Oh, great._

"Your manners haven't improved, dude." Mikey snapped. Spider looked up, face disfiguring in confusion. "Neither have your looks. You ever take your costume off, boy?"

Mikey grinned. "You ready for this? I can't."

Whether he had lost his mind or was just stalling, Emma couldn't help rolling her eyes. And she spotted Tito aiming his pistol as she did. "Mikey, DUCK!"

Tito fired his gun rapidly and Mikey spun Emma around, bracing himself between her and the bullets. The clinic sounded like a pinball machine as they pinged from shell, to cabinets, to floor, to ceiling. Emma covered her ears from the noise, pressing herself into Mikey's plastron.

"STOP!"

Everyone looked at Spider, who had gotten up, leveling his own gun at Emma and Mikey. Tito's gunfire ceased and he and Gutter joined them, cutting off the only escape route. Spider's eyes flashed on Emma. "Took him to a hospital, huh?"

"It wasn't all a lie." Emma boldly retorted. She was shaking, all her muscles tightly wound and screaming at her to run. She didn't believe Spider would shoot her, but without his IV, Mikey's system was liable to crash any second. Then where would he be?

"You ok?" Mikey's hand nudged her arm. Spider glared at his concern. He reached out with a boot, kicking Mikey's shell with the steel toe. "What the…"

Like lightening, Mikey's hand was on Spider's leg, knocking him backwards. Pushing Emma to the side, he landed two punches and a knife strike to the jugular, making Tito and Gutter fall. Emma debated whether to cheer or not, but it didn't matter as Mikey suddenly wobbled. "You gotta feelin' of deja vu, Gorgeous?"

"Oh geez!" Emma sprang forward, making a feeble attempt to catch the large reptile as he fell.


	9. Chapter 9

Things were blurry, but at least they weren't bright. And they were also… wet? Mikey turned his head, one way and then the other. Slowly, things became clearer. Shapes turned into boxes, wooden crates,… and faces! Two male, one female… and none of them Emma!

"Boo!" Mikey yelled. The gawkers jumped back and Mikey's head swam. He brought a hand to his forehead to make the spinning stop. Wait, it wasn't his hand.

"Easy." Emma's voice came to him, followed by her face. Mikey groaned in relief. "What hit me?"

"Vertigo." Emma widened his right eye, flashing a pen ight into the pupil. "Adrenaline will only carry you so far. You should've just stayed where you were."

"And miss… all the fun?" Mikey gulped as she checked the other eye.

Emma jerked her head at their audience, who stared open-mouthed. A short gal watched him from behind giant glasses and gothic bangs. Her jacket and skirt were as black as her hair. In stark contrast, a chick with a white and pink mohawk and tight-fitting, ripped jeans stood behind her. Above both of them was a bald guy in a gray tank top to show off his muscular arms. He looked Mikey over with narrow brown eyes. Their gawking was being extremely awkward. Maybe he should stare back, really freak them out.

"After your little trip," Emma joked dryly. "Spider was nice enough to offer us a ride to this cozy hideout, and allow me to set up another IV for you."

Well, that explained the familiar needle poking his left arm. Mikey tested his mobility, only to discover both his wrists chained in front of him, looped into a bolt attached to a cold cement floor. Ok, that put them in a warehouse… Mikey shifted himself into something of a sitting position, careful of his side. "You ok?"

"Peachy." Emma clicked off the pen light, throwing them into shadow. "If I try to run or phone the police, Tito gets to place a bullet in your brain."

Mikey swallowed the lump in his throat. "Eh… see? Fun."

"Acres of fun." Spider spoke up and they looked up to see him enter from an open doorway. Lights shone from the room behind him and Mikey heard the distinct symphony of tinkering. Like Donnie working constantly on some new science gizmo.

"Ya know, Spider," Mikey grinned bravely. "If you wanted to move the party here, you could've just asked."

"Shut up smart-aleck or I'll waste you myself." Spider motioned to the guys- other Purple Dragons- that had been watching silently. "I need all you guys in here, now."

"You sure it's safe to talk with _her_ around." The girl with the mohawk sneered at Emma. Emma smiled back devilishly. "Hey Cherry, you still get satellite with that retainer?"

The Cherry girl took a menacing step forward. Emma straightened away from Mikey, like she was just waiting for that first punch. Mikey's heart rate picked up. _Chick fight!_

"Enough." Spider chuckled. "Me and Emma, we got an understanding. She gets how things work…" He stared at her a little longer then was necessary. "Now get in there; we're already behind schedule."

Neither Mikey nor Emma breathed until they were all out of the room. He looked up hopefully. "Don't suppose there's a back door outta here."

"Sure there is," Emma grumbled. "Through that door and across the hall."

 _Shell._ Mikey pulled on the chains, ignoring the pain shooting through his arm. "5 feet of bulletproof shell and Tito has to pick tonight to have good aim."

"He always has good aim." Emma drew his attention to the padlock reinforcing the chains. "Just be glad he wasn't aiming at your head."

"What time is it?" Mikey diverted the conversation. Emma threw a quick glance at her watch. "4:13am"

She sounded tired just stating the fact. Mikey nudged her shoulder. "My bros will find us."

"How?" Emma squinted. "You guys have mutated bloodhound noses?"

"We've got something better." Mikey grinned. "Donatello, the world's #1 techno-geek."

Emma raised an intrigued eyebrow, but didn't ask. "How's your side?"

"Stiff, sore, and abnormally green." Mikey joked. Emma's cheeks dimpled with slight humor. "Better green then yellow or gray pus. You'll have to watch it over the next week in case of infection; no telling if bullet fragments got stuck in there… if we're alive next week."

"We will be." Mikey reassured her.

"That's an awfully declarative statement."

"A what?"

"Good grief." Emma shook her head, scooting her legs up into Indian style. "It must just be a guy thing, being verbally challenged."

"Speaking of which, how did you cross paths with _that_ guy?" Mikey scowled at Spider's back. Emma kept her gaze on his bandages, lifting the dressing slightly. "Hope, mixed with impulsiveness."

Oh great, she was going to talk in riddles. Had she met Master Splinter before? "Come again?"

"I'm talking about my big brother, Carson," Emma failed to hide the hitch in her voice. "He entered college 2 years before I did. He wanted to get into screenplays; he could write really good… I'm not sure how he met up with the Purple Dragons, but by the time we figured it out, he was already inked and initiated."

She was angry now, but remained gentle with his stitches. "Initiation by mugging… should've seen the look on my dad's face…"

All that came to Mikey's mind was Master Splinter's beady black eyes cornering him in hot rage. Emma sighed big. "I was sure that if Carson wouldn't listen to our parents, he'd listen to me. I enrolled in NYU, where my only extra-curricular activity was trying to knock some sense into my brother."

"I know how hard that can be." Mikey snickered. "What happened?"

"Botched robbery at the beginning of May." Emma said matter-of-factly. "Police show up and he gets two bullets in the chest. And until I graduate, I'm stuck with a lovesick punk and more underworld knowledge then I'm comfortable with."

"Sorry." Mikey squinted at the shadowed figures talking in the next room. "I already know who the three stooges are, but clue me in on the other clowns."

Emma smiled at him gratefully. "The charmer you met earlier is Cherry; my mortal enemy. She loves Spider, therefore she hates me because Spider prefers flirting with me and not her."

"Well she certainly seems closer to his personality type." Mikey muttered.

"I know, right." Emma re-taped the dressing, leaning back on her hunches.

"Guess you know how to make an impression." Mikey eyed Emma slyly. She blushed. "I broke his nose and kissed him all within 6 hours of meeting him… DON'T ask."

Mikey zipped his lips, though he was definitely going to have to bug her for details later on. "So, ugh…"

"The other gal is Ramona," Emma went on, crossing her legs Indian-style. "Homeless and out of high school with an IQ of 158; she's completely stupefied by you." She twiddled her thumbs. "Tito's evil twin is Ox, just some extra muscle Spider likes having around. They live off of other people's pain."

Mikey bit his lip, measuring those odds. He needed to channel Leo for once. Might they be in there, planning a new venue for their next party?"

"Not a chance." Emma said.

}{}{}{}{}{}{

In the end, Donnie was the one to break. Sensei hadn't even had to threaten them with the hashi. He'd done it through flashbacks! After 7 minutes of remising on how cute and incorrigible his sons had been and Donnie had spewed it all.

"…he's being taken care of, April assured us." Donnie prattled on, while Raph shook his head pathetically. "By a veterinary student, nonetheless; do you realize the probability of that?"

If that was meant to give Master Splinter peace of mind, it didn't show. He simply walked into the dojo, returned with the bokken, and promptly whacked all 3 of them on the head with it.

"I suppose I should have pureed you in your shells as children!" he cried. "At least then our existence would remain secret!"

"Sensei…" Raph looked up from rubbing the back of his skull. Master Splinter whirled on him, snapping a welt on Raph's arm with his tail. "And you, Raphael. I will have you knitting until your fingers bleed! Why did you leave your brother!"

Ok, there was no good answer for that one. Raph huffed. "A turtle needs his breathing space, ya know? And we all know Mikey's a bonehead, but I'd never believe he'd be so dumb as to actually mingle with people."

"Michelangelo tends not to think before be acts." Master Splinter stressed, tapping the bokken to Raph's chest. "Much like yourself."

 _Yeah right._ Raph scoffed. Master Splinter relaxed the bokken, drawing himself to his full 4'7'". "I have always commanded that you live and fight as brothers. So if the 3 of you will be so kind as to retrieve the 4th, you can then take the punishment as brothers!"

They all suppressed groans, bowing. "Hai, Sensei."

Their echo was but off by Don's Star Trek ringtone. His geek of a brother whined, fumbling to silence it. "Hi April… oh, yeah…" He headed for his computer. "I was only able to run it through 6 filters."

"Only 6 Donnie?" Leo shook his head, sharing a laugh with Raph. Donnie glared back at them. "She's asking for any info on that recording she sent me; they're going to be airing the story on the 6am news."

"What'd she expect you to do with it anyhow?" Leo raised a brow. "We don't have half with gigabytes that we did in the spring."

Raph rolled his eyes. "Why can't you just say March like everyone else?"

"I can send you all the background files on Spider, Hun, and Jenko." Donnie talked back into the phone. "But I've not been able to find any connections between Hun and the Foot Clan. If you want background on the Purple Dragons, they were strictly an East Side gang, trying to build a network throughout the city. They didn't have any success until after we defeated Shredder."

"20 pizzas say that Hun had something to do with that." Raph remarked. "He sounds like the type who likes to be on top and stay there."

"I'm sending you an email." Donnie clicked away on his keyboard.

"Make it quick, Donatello." Master Splinter warned. "You need to pick up Michelangelo."

"No worries, Sensei," Donnie typed away. "It's not like Mikey's going anywhere."


	10. Chapter 10

**Sorry for the delay... my long weekend turned into a long week. Anyway, here will you go!**

"Uma no hane!" April yelled at her black screen, shaking the keyboard with both hands.

"Whoa!" Vern gripped the keyboard, prying it from her. "Easy, evil she-beast…" He uncurled her fingers carefully. "This is why God invented sleep."

"He also invented divine intervention." April hissed. "And I wish He'd stop because it has yet to work to my advantage."

Vern set the keyboard down. "Where'd you learn Japanese?"

"I didn't, really," April took deep breaths. "I browsed a few books to keep up with the guys ninjutsu lingo. You pick up a few things."

"What's the hold up?" Lenny suddenly appeared at the opening of her cubicle, making it marginally crowded. "Mrs. Thompson's pushing to put that thing on in 15 minutes. O'Neil, you're gonna want a different jacket…"

"I know it." April groaned. She'd switched out of her Black Widow costume, but the sweatsuit wasn't exactly newsworthy attire either. "I'll take care of it, but I texted Don…" she caught herself. "An analyst friend of mine and his notes on the recording were supposed to have been sent to me and THIS…" she stabbed a finger at her computer. "Won't work."

"You can log onto mine with your company password." Lenny offered. "My desk's right next to the elevator, so you can get up to the studio when you get your notes."

They glanced across the floor and found it to be true. Funny how April had never noticed that before. Not too much was noticed about Lenny, she realized with a stab of guilt. "Thanks, Lenny."

"I'll meet you up there." Vern walked ahead, leaving April to fall in step beside Lenny. "You're a lifesaver, you know."

"You'll just have to let me save some documents, but then it's all yours." Lenny pushed up his glasses. April looked around at the half-deserted floor, then eyed him curiously. "Why are you still here and not at home?"

"Are you kidding?! The station hasn't been this buzzed since the truth came out about Saks and the Foot Clan. Another one of your crowning moments."

April turned her head so he couldn't see her blush. "Not enough to keep me from becoming Channel 6's errand girl."

"Naw, it'll pass." Lenny entered his cubicle. "Thompson will come to her senses. The camera needs both beauty and brains, am I right?"

April had been waiting since college for someone to recognize the fact and she could've kissed Lenny for saying so. But she was distracted by the exposed skin on his neck. Part of a tattoo stuck out from his gray, button-down shirt. It resembled a spike, though was clearly attached to a larger design. But it wasn't that that had caught April's attention; it was the color. Purple!

"Who's this analyst you recruited?" Lenny stepped back from the computer, offering April his chair. To refuse would rouse suspicion; besides, wasn't she just being paranoid? New Yorkers got tattoos every day.

April swallowed, took the seat, and logged in. "He's a freelance guy I met awhile back. He owed me one…" She dredged up her email; 1 new in her inbox. Her forefinger tensed over the mouse, right as a small, sleek steel tensed under her jawbone. "Delete it."

All breath left her. Lenny leaned in closer. "Delete it."

Well, it hadn't been paranoia. Like a phantom, she moved the mouse, highlighted Donnie's email, and dragged it to the Trash icon. "I never got around to complimenting you on your ink."

"You never talked to me, period." Lenny said softly. "But I don't hold it against you. I'm paid to be invisible."

The pieces started falling into place, April seeing how deeply embedded the Purple Dragons were. She didn't dare move. "There's nothing wrong with my computer, is there."

"Shut up." Lenny threatened with a slight re-angling of his blade. "Now be a good little reporter and follow me to the restroom for a little more privacy."

 _Is he high or just inherently stupid?_ April paused. Lenny obviously read her thoughts. "Try anything cute and your friend's got more then a bullet wound to worry about."

He retracted the blade from April's throat and walked off, leaving her stunned. Bullet? Mikey!? How had the Purple Dragons found him? Were he and Emma in danger? Steadying her wobbling knees, she got up and followed Lenny's path to the restroom. It was far enough down the hall that no one would notice them enter at the same time. April tensed as Lenny locked the door behind them. "Now…"

April's fist hit his left ear as she spun, rattling him enough to leave his right side exposed to another punch. His cheek brightened from the impact, glasses askew. "What the…"

"Don't recognize your own stapler." April taunted, reeling back for a third blow. But Lenny recovered, pinning her against the opposite wall. The knife was back to her throat and he wrapped his hand around the pocket with her phone. "That's your problem, April. Too much spunk."

He made her drop the stapler and repositioned the knife, tracing her under the chin. "Who'd you send that recording to?"

"What's it matter?" April asked, careful not to cut herself. "The tech crew's already made copies…"

"Digital files are easily lost." Lenny grinned. "The Purple Dragons may be rooted in the ghetto, but we're not without our tech-savvy ways."

"A couple fashion tips wouldn't hurt though." April smirked. Lenny pressed in, eye daring her to say more. "Who'd you give that recording to?"

April took a few composing breaths, opened her mouth,… then jammed her right hand into Lenny's chest. His body immediately convulsed with the frizz of electrical currents. After 5 or 6 seconds, he collapsed on the floor.

"You'll meet him real soon." April spat at him, feeling her neck for any cuts. _Too close, too close!_

She uncoiled her fingers around the brass knuckles that the guys had sent her for her birthday. Raph had designed them, Leo had polished them until they gleamed, Mikey had come up with the engraving- 'Angel Cakes'. And Donnie had equipped them with a thin battery that acted as a taser on your opponent when you inevitably pressed a button. Best gift she'd ever gotten! April stuffed it in her pocket and reached for her phone.


	11. Chapter 11

Giving up on going topside proved an impossible feat for the Hamatos; food and salvage runs were too vital to their survival to be ignored. Even so, it felt unnatural being above ground when it wasn't the dead of night. Leo wished he had time to pause and take in the city opening its eyelids. Watching a sunrise wouldn't be half bad. But instead, he was having to race across the metropolitan skyline to retrieve his wounded brother. They could have all taken the Shellraiser, but it was best to scope the clinic out first. Donnie would meet him and Raph there.

"Comin' in a little slow there, Fearless?" Raph smirked, leaning on the support beams of a motel sign. The clinic was just a few doors down.

"Did you scout the area?" Leo landed past his brother, peering up and down the fairly quiet street. A second later the Shellraiser was turning the corner.

"Not a Foot solider, sleepwalker, or alien in sight." Raph said. "Mikey's girlfriend works at the K-9 and 3/4 Animal Shelter."

Leo took that name in. "You're never going to let him forget this are you?"

Raph, who grinned mischievously. "You bet I'm not."

They hopped the last roof and followed the sound of barking dogs to a small outlet where Donnie pulled up. He poked his head out of the driver's window. "Sounds like the place."

Leo and Raph dropped to the pavement, landing more softly then people might think them capable of. Leo looked towards the kennel doors, then raised his fist. "Hold up."

Raph groaned. "Sheesh Leo, I already told you…"

Leo glared at them, then motioned to the door with his eyes. They lingered open, the lock and dead bolt broken. Don, Raph, and Leo drew their weapons, breathing deep and slow. They were at a disadvantage, unknown terrain and all. But a ninja's #1 weapon, aside from stealth, was adaptation.

"The dogs already know we're here." Donnie advised, taking the steps up to the door. That seemed to establish their plan. At Leo's nod, Don opened the door and he flew in, flanked by Raph. At first there was nothing but dogs and cats, but hitting the deserted medical room, the 3 turtles skidded to a halt.

"Donnie." Leo inquired, stance ready.

"Running thermal scan now." the brainiac said from behind his humongous goggles. "Not one heat signature bigger then a St. Bernard."

"Leo." Raph commanded their attention as he bent over the floor. He held up a rag with the long point of his sai. A bloody rag.

 _Oh no._ Leo gulped. He'd seen his brothers bleed before- hello, they were ninjas- but never in such quantity.

"There're more in this wastebasket." Donnie assessed. He sniffed the air. "And fresh antiseptic. That Emma girl obviously cleaned and dressed Mikey's wounds."

"But this…" Raph held the rag higher for Don to analyze. "This' fresh; barely dry."

Leo spoke over the growing pit in his stomach. "So Mikey's side started bleeding again?"

"Hopefully it's that chick's." Raph said daftly.

"Raph!" Leo and Don cried. Raph took a defensive stance. "What? You prefer it be Mikey's?"

"Bottom line, it's somebody's." Leo scolded him. Raph rolled his eyes, dropping the rag. "Mikey! If you're hiding, I swear…"

Donnie's ringtone silenced Raphael's threat. Donnie hastened to answer it. "It's April! Hi, April; I'm putting you on speaker."

They all gathered around the phone, though Leo kept his eyes perked.

"If you guys are on your way to pick up Mikey, forget it." April's voice sighed over the line. "He's not there."

"We know." Raph told her, slightly agitated. "We're standing in an empty clinic right now. No Mikey or the vet chick."

"Emma." April paused. "The bad news is, the Purple Dragons snatched them."

Donnie closed his eyes and groaned. "This day just keeps getting better and better."

"But even if Mikey got into it with Purple Dragons at the club," Leo thought aloud. "How'd they know where to find him?"

"Ask Emma," April said dryly. "I thought her last name- Dewitter- sounded familiar and I found out why. 6 months ago, Channel 6 covered a massive gunfight between the NYPD and the Purple Dragons…"

"Outside Burt's Slots and Shots." Donnie finished. "Yeah, I remember."

"Three cops lost their lives," April continued gravely. "But the only gang member to die was a Carson Dewitter. Emma's older brother."

Raph's face morphed into that of a daredevil. Leo placed a hand on his shoulder to keep him from throwing something. "So, would that mean that Emma's involved with them somehow?"

"I can't say for sure." April answered. "Only that it's a pretty big coincidence. Good news though, Vern and I got someone here who might know where they have Mikey."

The turtles each cocked an eyebrow at the phone. There were some shuffling noises, then it was back to April. "He's not being very cooperative…"

"O'Neil!" Vern's cry filled the background. "He's coming around."

"Hold on." April's voice faded to the fizzing of electricity and a girlish scream; more girly then Mikey's. Donnie eyed them with a grin. "She's using her knuckles."

"Yeah, they work great." April came back on. "Anyway, meet us on the Channel 6 roof. You all can chat with him there."


	12. Chapter 12

It's taken him over 45 minutes, but Michelangelo Hamato had a plan! A plan that didn't allow him to do anything, but would be perfectly executed by his lovely assistant, Imogene. In retrospect, it was neither brave nor chivalrous, but seeing as how he was chained to the floor, Emma taking the lead was probably for the best. Besides, she knew the enemy better. In any comic book that was the ultimate advantage to the good guys winning.

 _C'mon, c'mon_ … Mikey did his best to remain indifferent. Actually, he was supposed to be looking somewhere between feverish and hanging within an inch of death. Emma had gone into the other room to grab water, paper towels, and a soda, implying that he wasn't doing well. All she needed was a moment of pick-pocketing brilliance and swipe a cell phone. She'd give it to Mikey, he'd text Don. Then his brothers come swooping in and kick butt. _Then_ April's reporting would foil the Purple Dragons diabolical plans. April personally gives him credit and a kiss for leading her to the story of the century! Then Emma follows with a kiss of her own… oh yeah, it was all coming together!

"Spider," Emma growled in exasperation. "I told you, I don't want a beer."

Mikey pulled himself out of his fantasies as Emma walked back in, Spider right on her heels… oh, and Cherry, the bitter rival. "You heard Miss Perfect, Spider. She's too good for you or alcohol."

"Only because she doesn't know how to relax." Spider turned Emma from Mikey, arm around her shoulders. "It's my job to teach her."

Mikey fumed. The dude was halfway to relaxing himself into a coma!

Emma turned her face from Spider's foul breath. "Tempting, but no. I'm on the clock."

"Emma," Spider whined, pulling her back from 'attending' to Mikey. "I think I've been more then patient…"

"Is that what you'd call it?" Emma moved him back with a finger to the chest. "Hacking my email, showing up at my workplace, hitting on me at every street corner? Exactly which part of that qualifies as patient?"

"Qualifies as desperate." Mikey couldn't resist commenting. Sure, he was supposed to appear incapacitated, but Emma should know that she had back-up.

Spider glared at Mikey, tightening his hand on Emma's arm. "If I sound desperate about anything, it's only because things are going to be different after today. A real red-letter day for the Purple Dragons… and for me." His hand moved down her arm to her back. "Wouldn't you like to help make it as memorable as possible."

"Dude," Mikey interrupted, nostrils flaring. "You got fog in your brain? She's not interested."

Spider and Cherry looked at him, at a loss of how to respond. Was it really that far-fetched, that he could talk? Either way, it gave Emma the few seconds to slip out of Spider's grasp and set the paper towels and water beside him. "Thirsty?"

"Yes, please." Mikey raised his hands, but the chain fell short. Emma eased them down and raised the water to his lips.

"Disgusting." Cherry shuttered, stepping back.

"Don't be so hard on yourself." Emma didn't miss a beat. "There's always room for improvement."

"Shut up." Cherry hissed. Emma eyed her. "Come over here and make me."

"Girls, girls, girls," Mikey swallowed, puffing out his chest. "There's no need to fight over me. Plenty to go around…"

"Zip it, freak!" Spider pointed at him with his beer bottle. "I'm still deciding if you're a dream or not."

"Pinch yourself."

Spider's foot swung out, but Mikey blocked it with his own, throwing the 2-bit thug off balance. Spider fell flat on his butt, his beer bottle breaking. Cherry swore, looking down on him. "That's just pathetic, Spider."

She withdrew a Glock from the waist of her jeans, cocking it in Mikey's face. Mikey could see her eyes shaking with fear; he tried not to hold it against her. But then Emma was up, knocking the gun away with her right hand, while socking Cherry's nose with a left hook. She followed with a kick into her chest, which threw Cherry back. The noises were beginning to draw the attention of the other gangsters, Tito and Ox toting their own firearms into the room. Regardless, Emma grabbed Cherry's gun off of the floor.

"Nice shot." Spider grinned stupidly, picking himself up as Cherry wiped at her bleeding nose.

Emma pushed the gun into his chest. "What do you mean by a red-letter day, Spider?"

 _Hello!_ Mikey couldn't help thinking. _Use this advantage of power to unchain me!_

"I mean," Spider breathed out, nudging the gun back. "That a message is finally getting sent to the Foot Clan. One that'll make 'em think twice before messing with us again."

Emma glanced at Mikey, fear of a different origin covering her face. "How many innocent lives are we talking, huh?"

"Oh, spare us the sermon." Cherry was suddenly behind her, pulling Emma back by her hair. She ripped the Glock from her hands, pushing the barrel under her chin. "The strong triumph over the weak, every time. Your brother got it, why can't you?"

With her comment about Carson, something snapped! Emma reached up and yanked, tearing one of Cherry's earrings out of her ear. Cherry shrieked, giving Emma time to hip-throw her flat onto her back. Emma went in for a kick, but Cherry caught her foot, knocking her down beside her.

 _Finally!_ Mikey's spirits perked a little. _Catfight! Guess my shameful capture was worth something after all… wish I had pizza to top it off._

"C'mon Lit'le Miss Perfect." Cherry jumped up, fists ready. By now, the other Purple Dragons were a captive audience. Ramona looked back and forth nervously, while Ox and Tito rubbed their hands with glee as Emma picked herself up. "I'm not a threat to you, Cherry-"

She was cut off by Cherry's roundhouse getting her in the side. Lucky for her, the chick's aim was as wild as her hair. Cherry moved in to follow with a punch, but Emma's block was quicker. She abruptly grabbed Cherry's throat with both hands and proceeded with a loud, smashing head-butt that sent her crumbling. Emma wobbled herself, but held her ground. "Owww…."

"You should've used the crown of your head." Mikey told her.

"Thatta girl." Spider clapped. "And you think you're not Dragon material."

"I'm not; just an over-exerted navy brat." Emma steadied herself, glaring at Spider. "Why are we here, Spider? You don't pull anything that won't benefit you in the end… so?"

"Funny you should bring that up." Spider chuckled, enabling a chain reaction around the group. How did such a small sound send shivers up Mikey's spine? "Whatever the joke was, I missed the punch line."

"Tito, Ox," Spider jerked his head. "Bring it in."

It? There was an 'it'? Never good! Mikey caught Emma hunkering down, holding her head. "Hey Gorgeous, you good?"

"Not bad." Emma angled her head to look at him. "Could do with a little recharge though."

Mikey couldn't help grinning into her luminous blue eyes. "I hear that."

"Get over here." Spider suddenly jerked Emma up by her arm. She responded with a hard shove. "Last time I checked I can stand where I want."

"You won't want to be standing there in a minute." Spider grabbed her arm again. Mikey looked past them to see the Tito and Ox hauling in a black box; 3'x3' with wires running in and out of the sides. Neither Mikey nor Emma were fools; it was a bomb.

"Why is it you have a bomb, Spider?" Emma asked, frozen.

"We have four of them, actually." Cherry smiled wickedly, mirroring the faces of Ox and the others. "All hot-n-ready to send the Foot Clan sky high."

"Which'll leave the city ripe for the taking." Tito said dreamily.

"Pop quiz, Mikey," Emma said, again breaking Spider's grip on her. "Why is it always NYC? Why are all of the bad guys tripping over each other to conquer the Big Apple?"

"Never mind that." Mikey shook his head. "Who even came up with the nickname 'Big Apple'? Half the commercial industry doesn't promote healthy eating."

"I know," Emma threw her arms out. "Then you factor in the traffic, the gang activity, and the overall taxes…. where's the appeal?"

"It's the best place to hide illegal activity." Gutter, the scrawny one that Mikey had completely forgot about, offered up. Tito smacked the back of his head. "It's all a powerhouse freak, and there can be only one top dog. After today, it's gonna be us."

Emma's eyes widened, like Donnie's when a light bulb went off in his brain. She gave a dry laugh, eyeing Spider darkly. "Your last hurrah, huh? You're gonna place yourselves in the bombings as a forensic countermeasure."

"Your eyes crinkle in the cutest way when you're smart." Spider smiled in the sleaziest way. All he got was a slap from Emma's hand. "You are all sick!"

"I'd take more pride in it if I were you." Cherry brought herself to a sitting position, smirking. "It was all Carson's idea."

Emma's breath hitched; other then that, you could've heard a pin drop.

"Not cool, dudette." Mikey hissed at Cherry. She shrugged back. "It's true. The robbery that killed him? We were getting parts to make these bad boys. I think he'd be happy to know his little sister saw his plans through."

Emma charged at her, eyes blazing, but Spider snatched her around the waist. "She's got a point, Emma. You could share this with us."

Mikey shook his head. It was pitiful, watching this guy strain himself. He smiled as Emma came at him again, this time with a fist. Dude soooo deserved that one! However, Spider's face changed into irritation, and led Mikey to think it might have been one punch too many. Seriously, he looked like Raph when Mikey beat him at intonjutsu.

"New plan." Spider's own gun was suddenly in his hand, tapping anxiously against his thigh. "You do what I say _when_ I say it."

Emma laughed. "Yeah I'll get right on that."

Spider's eyes glinted. "First things first."

He grabbed her by the neck and forcibly planted a kiss on her.

"Hey!" Mikey tried to jolt up, only to have Tito knock him back down with the fat end of a bat. When did he get a bat? Mikey gasped, but maintained enough sense to catch the bat on its 2nd swing. He had limited mobility, but what was that to a ninja? He twisted the bat out of Tito's hands and sent it flying at Spider's head. It would've served the dude right, if Emma hadn't pushed him away a split second before intended impact. Which caused the bat to instead bash her across the forehead. There was a heavy THWACK and Emma dropped to the floor.

"Uh…" Mikey face-palmed himself, then proceeded to imagine himself pouring acid into his side and arm. "Emma? Imogene? Aw man… sorry, sorry, sorry…"

Gutter bent over Emma, patting her cheek. "She's out cold, boss."

"Makes our job easier." Spider recovered from the initial confusion. "Ox, put her in the van."

Mikey yanked hard on his chains. "Don't touch her!"

That only got him a kick to the head and a 'shut up' from Tito. Did it ever occur to these guys to add a 'please' instead of a punch to their demands?

"Just leave her with the freak, Spider." Cherry whined, finally keeping her nose from oozing. "She's just dead weight."

Spider glared at her. "I'll decide what she is. Ox."

"I mean it, dude." Mikey warned as Ox picked Emma up, none to gently. "Leave her be or I'll come after you and kick major shell."

"Shell?" the stout goth, Ramona, squinted at him. "Oh, so you're a turtle."

"You're not going anywhere." Spider straightened, his sick grin back. "Not soon enough to out run this bomb anyway."

Through this whole ordeal, Mikey thought he'd been pretty cool-headed; except for the actual getting shot, he had kept himself positive because that was how he rolled. But now, he was beginning to sweat. He watched Tito bend over the bomb, enter a sequence into the dashboard on top, and a neon clock started its countdown from an hour. Tito shared Spider's grin. "Nice knowing you. Whatever you are."


	13. Chapter 13

Lenny's eyes opened sluggishly for the second time in over an hour. His first sensation was a cool breeze on his face and the scent of the early morning dew in his nose. NYC may be a concrete jungle, but you could never escape the moist, clear air of the morning. Wait… that put him outside. What was he doing outside?

"Good morning, sunshine." a gruff voice spoke. "Have a good shock?"

The comment zapped Lenny's memory; April O'Neil! With a violent curse, Lenny tried to get up, only to be weighted down. "I wouldn't do that! Voltage from a taser delivers muscle conjecture throughout the neuromuscular system, decreasing systolic blood pressure. Very dangerous."

That was a different voice. An irritating one. Lenny blinked several times, finally getting back to his 20/20 vision. He was on a rooftop, leaning back against a cooling unit. The sky was tinted with color, but not enough to make out the three shadows in front of him.

Lenny shook his head. "I don't know who you guys think you're dealing with…"

"A sniveling weasel by the look of it." the gruff voice said. This was also the voice that was holding him down. And what was that smell?

"You can explain your double agent status to the police later, Lenny." a third voice spoke calmly, evenly. Those were always the voices to fear, in Lenny's experience. "Right now, we've got some questions for your boss, Spider. Where can we find him?"

"With your mom." Lenny sneered. There was a sharp ringing sound and the gruff shadow revealed himself, along with a long blade at Lenny's forehead. Lenny's eyes widened. "What…"

"Raph." the calm voice warned. "We need him alive before you kill him."

"And in all practicality, that insult really shouldn't offend us." the irritating voice was back.

"Really, Donnie." Raph growled, taking his intense eyes off of Lenny to glare behind him.

"Hey, I'm stressed. When I'm stressed I talk…"

Lenny took this opportunity of stupidity to overcome his initial shock. After all, they were only Halloween costumes… right? He slipped a hand to his belt.

"I believe you're looking for this." an equally hideous- turtle?- wearing purple behind giant glasses, twirled Lenny's knife expertly in his hand. "And we thought you only reserved its use against helpless females."

Lenny cussed him out. "Is all this to make sure O'Neil makes that 6am?"

All three of the green weirdoes laughed. The calm one crossed his arms. "Oh, that's already said and done. There isn't a home from Manhattan to the Bronx that's not tuned into April's remarkably detailed report on the Purple Dragons' supposed take down of the city."

"Yep, you guys are real smart." Lenny gave a feeble clap. "Got it all figured out."

"Eh," the calm one shrugged. "We're not so convinced… where's Spider?"

The knife hadn't faltered from Lenny's forehead. But obviously, these guys needed something… Lenny eased back, smirking. "You can keep me up here all day fellas, but something tells me you don't have that long. And I ain't talking. So let's just cut our losses and…"

The angry red one lifted Lenny like he was no more then a feather and he suddenly found himself suspended over the edge of the building. The 28-story, Channel 6 building! Lenny couldn't help gasping, somewhat girlishly.

"Who said anything about keepin' you up here!" the lizard man grinned devilishly.

"Raph!" the blue one warned, while the other named Donnie edged up beside them, peeking over and down. He whistled. At 28 stories of 1200 millimeters each, you're looking at a drop of about 300 feet, my friend."

"I ain't your friend." Lenny spat, his whole body tingling from the lack of ground beneath it. "And this ain't…"

"I'd listen to him if I were you." Raph said. "You're talkin' to a guy with an IQ of about 10,000, while you were lucky to pas the 8th grade."

"Now a fall like that," Donnie leaned casually on one of the metal railings, looking at Raph. "Is most certainly fatal, but there's no guarantee it'll kill you right away. It's amazing, the human body's resilience in fighting for survival. You won't retain consciousness, probably a good thing with all the broken bones and internal bleeding. Hopefully the garbage men will spot you."

"Garbage men!" Lenny cried, needing to stop shaking. "What're you freaks talkin' about?"

Raph chuckled. "Funny how things work out. This's the same side of the building as the dumpsters. Pretty appropriate, don't you think?" he adjusted his arm, sending Lenny's neck into spasms. "Now, let's assume you're lucky enough to land in one of those fest-ridden dung heaps. Garbage pick-up's due any minute…"

"… and aside from needing a shower, you'll need medical attention." Donnie noted. "Not that you'll be able to make them hear you. Be a shame that they won't. And you accidently find yourself thrown into their trash compacter. With 1.6 ton steel slabs squeezing in on you from both sides, at 24 pounds of pressure per cubic foot…"

"Shut up!" Lenny screamed.

"All the snapping and smashing…" Raph continued. Lenny was surprised he hadn't dropped him yet, he was shaking so bad. "L-look, there are a lotta places Spider goes!"

"He hijacked 2 people tonight." the blue one decided to finally step in. "Where'd he take them?"

Lenny seethed through his chokehold. "Pull me in and we'll talk…"

Raph let go! Lenny felt the downfall of gravity, but before he could scream, it suddenly reversed, swinging him back over sacred ground. He landed hard and with more crushing weight on his chest. "WHERE?!"

The calm one wasn't calm anymore. He was now the one holding a long, shiny blade to Lenny's throat. It thumped against his Adam's apple. "Alright, alright… he took a girl and a guy to a warehouse- #13- off the Brosky Pier."

"Warehouse 13?" Donnie snorted. "Really?"

"Spider was big on the TV show." Lenny explained. "That's where he'll be, I swear."

The turtles let silence linger a moment and Lenny let it. He wasn't lying about the warehouse. But if his watch was right, it was debatable how long it would still be there.


	14. Chapter 14

Nine minutes! The bomb read nine minutes!

This didn't give cause to panic necessarily, only a mild sweat. Mikey had already mangled all his bracelets, trying to unlock his chaffing chains; no dice. The bomb was out of his reach and didn't hold an on-off switch, so throwing something at it was out of the question. His nunchaku had been taken. Mikey inspected the loop holding his chains to the floor; it was rusted over and too stripped to unscrew. And, sadly, he wasn't Raph. He couldn't hope to rely on brute strength.

Eight minutes! Ok, panic!

"This is kinda sad."

"Yeah, it really is."

Mikey jumped. _Oh no!_ _My thoughts are taking on a life of their own!_

"16 years of the finest ninjutsu training and when faced with real adversity, it all fails him."

 _Boy, my thoughts don't care much for my self-esteem._

"Idiot!"

"Hey!" Mikey looked up, becoming fully aware of the situation. His brothers emerged from the shadows, smirks on their faces. Mikey just smiled back in relief. "Dudes, am I ever glad to see you!"

"I mean, Mikey may be a goofball," Donnie leaned casually on his bo staff. "But he's always had the highest tendency to surprise us in a sticky situation. I must say, I'm disappointed."

"Uh, guys…"

Raph twirled his sai, an amused smile on his face. "Really Donnie? I mean, what were you expecting."

Six minutes and counting! Mikey yanked on the chains. "Guys!"

"The bullet wound was unexpected." Donnie admitted. "I've always thought Mikey too nimble to be blindsided by something as primitive as a gun."

"Ok," Mikey breathed out slowly. "Ok, I get it. I'm sure my excessive blood loss is no excuse…"

"Been there, done that." Leo snorted. Mikey glared. "When all is said and done, let me have it- I will take my punishment with dignity- but right now…"

"Do you think Master Splinter will _ever_ let him out of the hashi?" Leo snickered to Raph. Donnie raised a finger, deliberately turning his back to Mikey. "You know, it's quite an interesting story how the hashi got its name…"

"GUYS!" Mikey pointed impatiently with his chained hands. "Seriously, BOMB!"

Donnie glanced at the black box, now reading five minutes. Only to yawn. "Oh please, give me a challenge."

"Stick 'em up, Mikey." Raph laughed. Mikey held up his hands and in the time it took for Raph to weaken the link binding him to the floor, Donnie had defused the bomb. "Somebody's gotta talk to these guys about wiring."

Leo looked at the black box warily. "A poorly-built bomb can still blow up."

"Well, they've got more." Mikey told him, standing up with their help. "This place was working as their own private assembly line."

"How many?" Donnie's voice grew edgy.

Mikey shrugged. "Four or more?"

"Where'd they take 'em?" Raph asked.

Mikey shrugged again, wincing at Raph's snarl. "Way to be in tune with your surroundings, bonehead."

"I didn't have to." Mikey snarled back, holding up his IV. "It's all in that room over there."

Raph rolled his eyes. "Why would they leave all the evidence…"

"In a warehouse about to be blown up?" Mikey finished sarcastically. Leo patted his shoulder. "Nice to know your mortal wound hasn't affected your smart mouth any. Here, I'll tape the IV to your shell."

"Over here!" Donnie called as he flipped on a light in the neighboring room. "Mikey wasn't kidding."

The brothers joined him as he began rummaging through papers that covered a center table. The walls were decorated with New York maps and blueprints and it looked like the trash can had puked all over the floor.

"I'm guessing there's more then one bomb." Raph noted, holding out a spiral of clipped yellow wire.

Donnie bit his lip. "And judging from these manifests, they might be more sophisticated then that toy they left Mikey with."

"I'm sure they were looking for effectiveness, not creativity." Leo growled, pondering over the maps. "And secrecy. There's no markings on here to indicate their targets."

"There can only be so many possibilities." Raph assessed his own wall of jumbled papers. "The Chrysler Building?"

"Madison Square Garden?" Donnie offered from his corner.

"The pizzeria at 128th and 6th?!" Mikey gasped. His brothers groaned, staring at him. "Hey! That's where all our free pizzas are coming from! And I get hungry when I'm worried; we gotta find Emma, remember?"

Donnie and Raph quickly went back to staring at the walls. Leo rubbed his palms together nervously. "Uh, Mikey… not that we're not going to try our best here, but you realize that it would be better if you never saw her again."

"Sure," Mikey nodded, not really buying it. "After I save her, dude."

"No, um…" Leo studied the handmade chest plate covering his plastron. "I mean, not even then. We've found out some things about her… she has close ties to the Purple Dragons."

Mikey shook his head. "No she doesn't. Her brother did."

"Who told you that?" Leo asked with surprise.

"Emma." Mikey said, matter-of-factly. His eyes narrowed at Leo's solemn gaze. "And no, Leo, she didn't lie."

"She told the truth?" Raph asked, though it really wasn't a question. "To a freak of nature she met only eight hours ago?"

Had it only been that long? Mikey gritted his teeth. "Why're you being so quick to call her a liar, Raphael?"

"Because you're too quick to trust, Michelangelo."

"Ok," Leo waved his arms. "We'll talk about it later; first things first… Donnie, ideas?"

"I can run dimensions of the maps against centers and businesses within a 20-block radius." Donnie suggested. "It'd be so much easier if New York wasn't such a tourist trap…"

Mikey was quiet a moment, before it hit him. "Boy, are you guys dumb."

Again, all heads turned his way. Mikey was used to it. "Didn't any of you listen to April's recording? The Purple Dragons go after New Yorkers everyday, but they don't have complete freedom because of the Foot. So, they're going after the Foot."

All were silent, staring at him in amazement. Donnie then wiped out his shell cell. "What time is it?"

"A few minutes after 6:30." Leo said.

"April will be done with her segment then." Donnie speed-dialed the reporter. "She mentioned some research she had been doing… April!"

"April." his 3 brothers mimicked in a sing-song pitch. Could they help it if Donnie always sounded so eager?

"…you said that you had made a map showing subsequent areas of Foot and Purple Dragon activity?" Donnie was scanning the walls. "What's the radius off that map? I mean, does it cover all the burbs, burrows, and Staten Island? Chelsea?"

He had that 'mad scientist' tone in his voice, usually a sign that he was onto something. Mikey joined Leo and Raph in eyeballing every piece of paper they came across. Any piece could bring them closer to Emma. Who hadn't lied to him. People didn't lie to someone that they'd dug a bullet out of.

"Nothing." Raph spat. "All these maps aren't of the whole city, just specific sections."

"What?" Donnie stopped pacing, tuned into the phone. "Um… ok… April says to tear down all the maps. She thinks that maybe they're all part of a bigger one."

"Like a jigsaw puzzle." Leo caught on.

Like lightening, the turtles ripped, tore, and gathered the 8 or so maps onto the table and started matching them, section by section. Within minutes, they were staring at a 5'x5' grid of the entire city.

"Smart girl." Raph smiled.

"April, you're a genius!" Donnie sent on the congratulations, putting her on speaker. "Anyway I can send a character reference to your boss."

"I'd take anything at this point." she laughed dryly. "Mikey, you ok?"

"Nothing a kiss can't fix." Mikey answered, earning a smack upside the head from Raph.

"Ok guys," April moved on. "If we're looking at the same thing, you're in the warehouse district that's been run by the Purple Dragons for the last 4 years. Houses 5-14."

Leo magically produced 2 highlighters and etched a pink outline around that area. He did the same with an orange one as April read them locations off her map. When she was done, there were over a dozen of each color scattered over the city.

"Dude," Mikey shuddered. "It's like we're surrounded."

"We are, lame brain." Raph told him with a huff. "You gotta pass through a Foot Clan toll booth if you wanna leave Queens for Brooklyn."

Leo sighed over the highlighted map. "Well, it's dealer's choice. April, any suggestions?"

There was a pause. "We can't think like Purple Dragons here; they're being led by someone who used to work for the Shredder. Hun's going to be thinking like a diabolic madman more then anything."

"Ok," Mikey rubbed his chin. "So if we were evil and it was down to us or the other evil dudes, what would we have to do so that they would lose?"

"Misdirection." Raph answered promptly. "You want 'em cut off at the knees, you make 'em think first that he's losing his hand."

 _Anyone else find his answer mildly creepy?_ Mikey thought. Leo's face asked the same question. "Continue."

Raph opened his mouth, then stopped. "Wait a minute! So, we figure out where the bombs are and then what? Are we actually going to help the Foot?"

"We're going to keep the city safe." Leo said. "Like Splinter's been training us to do."

"Seems like a bunch of dead Foot soldiers would be doing just that." Raph pointed out. Leo's face grew narrow and serious. "That's not what we're about. A true ninja values all life."

"Technically that's samurai." Donnie corrected.

"The guys that chop their heads off if they lose a battle?" April interjected. Donnie paused. "Well, yeah."

"The point is…" Leo started.

"The point is," Raph jabbed his finger in Leo's face. "What you say goes and none of what we think matters."

Oh boy, here they go! Mikey and Donnie might as well pull up some chairs.

"Guys…" April said, but other then Mikey, no one heard her.

"It always has to come back to this, doesn't it?" Leo slapped the table. "Like it's my fault Splinter made me leader. And you really want us to look the other way while lunatics implode half the city?"

"Leo…" April tried again. "Raph…"

"Those bombs will help wipe out the Foot Clan!" Raph's eyes blazed with fury. "Why would you object to that? Leo, they took our home, remember. I see this as karma."

"That's not what we're about." Leo repeated, getting him a shove from Raph. "Don't tell me what I am!"

Leo drew himself up. "I will as long as you're part of this team, little brother."

"Man, ENOUGH already!"

For the 3rd time, they all looked at Mikey, whose sudden outburst caused him to grab his side. He breathed out slowly, eyeing Leo and Raph. "I don't see the point in this because it's always about the same thing. And I'm not cool with you two fighting about it every minute, of every day! Stop the bombs or risk any number of innocent lives; sounds like a no-brainer to me. Plus, I'm not ducking out without making sure Emma's safe. But if I'm gonna do any of that, I need all of your in my corner, ya know."

He paused, but only for a second. He was on a roll! He took the phone from a stunned Donnie. "April? If you wanted to take over someone's position as top dog, where would you hit them?"

"I'd make their business come to me by eliminating the competition." she said. "If this guy Hun worked closely with Shredder, he would know what Saki trades go in and out of New York, and where."

"The docks." Donnie pointed at the orange-highlighted piers. "He'll attack the docks, for sure."

The brothers caught on quickly, each looking over a fourth of their map.

"How about Saks Industries?" Raph suggested.

"All confiscated in the police investigation." April sighed. "Wouldn't be surprised if it's found its way back into the hands of the Foot, somehow. Vital stuff like that, you want to keep close… do you see the corner building just east of Madison Ave? That was Orku Saki's headquarters. The guy worked and lived there. If you wanted to cut the head off of a snake…"

"Ok, that's 2 possible locations." Leo wiped his forehead, plans forming. "But we're got 3 bombs."

"Foo Wang."

"Gezontight." Mikey said.

"No, Mikey," April laughed. "It's a restaurant in Chinatown. There's always a lot of suits and briefcases coming and going."

Mikey's eyes grew big. "And if James Bond has taught us anything, that means money transplants."

"Transactions." Donnie corrected. "April makes a good point. I predict an above 82% on finding bombs at the docks and Sake Tower, but…"

"I'll go scout the restaurant out." April volunteered.

"No way!" all four of them practically shouted into the phone. April huffed. "You know, I was doing investigating before I met you guys… I'll take Vern with me."

 _Oh, that makes it so much better._ Mikey rolled his eyes. Sure, the guy took a bullet for her, but unit he survived a 3,000 foot drop off a skyscraper, none of them were impressed.

"I'll go with her." Leo decided. "Donnie, what time frame are we looking at?"

"You can reach Chinatown within 12 minutes." Donnie said, tracing a possible route with his finger. "The docks are only a few minutes run down the river, the Saki Tower closer to 20 minutes."

"Which one do you think they took Emma to?" Mikey wondered aloud.

"How'm I supposed to know that?" Donnie looked at him with a shrug.

"We've got until 11 before these things blow up." Leo determined. "I'll cover April and Vern at Foo Wang's. Raph, you disable the one at the docks. Don, you and Mikey head for the Saki Tower and wait for us there."

"Why does Raph always get the solo missions?" Mikey whined.

"Why do I always get stuck with Mikey." Donnie sighed.

"Because we need surveillance on that tower." Leo told them. "And Mikey, do I even need to answer your question?"

Mikey glared at him a minute, then remembered his stitched up side and the IV taped to his back. "Oh… yeah."

Raph muttered. "Let the bad guys take each other out, problem solved."

"And how much of New York gets buried in the process?" Donnie asked.

"Think of it this way, Raphie." Mikey patted his bro's shoulder. "You'll probably have to knock out a bunch of Foot soldiers to get to the bomb."

Raph raised a brow. "Yeah, I guess."

"Let's go." Leo grinned.

 **A long one, I know. But these interactive scenes between the brothers are what TMNT fanfics are all about.**


	15. Chapter 15

"You're so weird." Cherry watched Emma, a befuddled scowl on her face. They sat across from each other in the back of a catering van, where Emma had awoken with a headache and a swollen forehead. Cherry and Ramona 'convinced' her to change into one of the company uniforms, same as they all were wearing. But where they had stopped, Emma had continued the charade by braiding her hair. She smiled politely at Cherry. "A girl should look her best, no matter what the occasion, am I right?"

"Even her funeral." Cherry sneered. Emma only gave a one-sided shrug. "I doubt it."

Tito chuckled. "Why's that? You think Spider'll give you a pardon because he's sweet on you."

Emma grimaced at recalling Spider's kiss. "I was referring to Mikey."

"Your freak got blown up." Cherry shifted a few trays down from their selves.

"Not that you saw." Emma tied off her braid. She denied the tightening in her stomach. Sure, she was banking her hope on a mutant turtle ninja, that she'd just met and was the one who had given her this goose egg; but, he wasn't the type to just give up because of a bomb. That much she felt sure about.

"This gives us a chance to finish our discussion from the warehouse." Spider suddenly mentioned as Gutter and Tito started unloading the back of the truck. Emma glanced out, but all she could see was the backend of an alley. Spider grabbed her arm, getting her to look at him. "Emma, I'm serious. I don't think you realize the advantages you're being offered here…"

Emma ripped her arm from his grip. "Suck a lemon, Spider. Not in any universe, current or parallel, would I choose, see, or even acknowledge you."

The gang looked away uncomfortably. Spider's face shifted between anger and annoyance. "I can take care of you, Emma. Trust me, you won't hear anyone else making you that offer."

Emma shook her head at him. "I'll take my chances."

"If we're done with the Dr. Phil," a gruff voice got their attention and Emma gaped at the mountain of a man that blocked the van's open doors. She'd never seen Hun up this close… where'd he even find a tux to fit him?

"We've got business to take care of." Hun nodded to Spider, who got out, leaving Emma to Cherry's company. Who instantly pulled Emma in by the collar of her shirt. "We've got an 8:30 breakfast to prepare for the Foot, and then a nice lunch. If I catch any fight outta you…" she nodded to the .38 tucked under her apron. "I shot you. In the back. Just like I did Carson."

}{}{}{}{}{

"O'Neil, really!" Vern slammed the brakes of the Channel 6 van. April held her hands out to catch herself on the dashboard. "Vern…"

"No! Nononono…" Vern grabbed his left shoulder emphatically. "I took a bullet for you and I'd do it again- given the right circumstances and as a last resort, but the gesture still counts- but getting blown up! That's a whole other ball game!"

"You won't get blown up." April soothed, placing a hand on his elbow. "It's not set to blow until 11am and Leo's on his way…"

Vern snorted. "No offense O'Neil, but not everything can be solved with a mutant turtle."

"Ninja turtle." April corrected.

"Whatever." Vern shook his head. "You know we have a police force who can walk out in the daylight."

"And they're back at Channel 6 with Thompson." April reminded him. Vern stared at her like she was insane. "So… what are we doing _here?_ "

"Breaking protocol." Leo's voice came up, making April and Vern jump. April spun in her seat to find Leo smirking from the back. Vern slowed his breath. "You guys… how'd you even get back there?"

"Good to see you." April smiled brightly. "Is Mikey ok?"

Leo rolled his eyes. "He told me to tell you to leave a light on."

Yep, he was fine. April looked back through the front windshield. "If you're waiting for some neon arrow to point to the bomb, you're out of luck."

"The obvious choice would be the kitchen." Leo thought aloud. "Maximum BANG next to those ovens."

"But farthest from the intended target." April suggested. "Namely, the 8 Foot soldiers that were just entering."

"Japanese guys strutting into a Chinese restaurant." Vern stared ahead helplessly. "Yeah, nobody'll catch that."

"It's going to be wherever they're sitting." April nodded, getting excited again. Leo's hand found her shoulder. "We don't know that for sure."

"You wanna stick 'round till 11 to found out?" April snapped. "It's going to take enough time to sneak into Saki Tower."

"You're doing what now?" Vern looked at them both, saw they weren't kidding, then banged his head against his seat. "No, no, we can't… I mean… you… I need a drink."

Leo eyed him hard. "What's that smell?"

"What?" Vern looked back at him. "What smell?"

"That smell." Leo wrinkled his nose at Vern. April covered a giggle. "His new cologne; 'Husky Twilight'."

Leo didn't hold back his laughter. "Really?"

"It's a very specific and subtle scent." Vern defended his cologne and proceeded to sniff his collar. "I keep it to cover up the stench of late-night shifts."

"You should've taken your chances with the late-nights." Leo shook his head; then his eyes lit up. "Do you have the bottle with you?"

"Yeah." Vern said, wishing the conversation would shift off of him.

"There might be a way to dissolve this peacefully." Leo grinned.

}{}{}{}{}{}{

Raph watched the world spin- water, concrete, water, concrete- before he bowled his way through the two Foot soldiers that were shooting at him. He rolled onto his shell, sweeping a third's legs out from under him. They were down and out before Raph could stand up. The turtle huffed from mild exertion; 28 down, about 15 to go.

 _Awful lot of muscle for just a wharf._ Raph figured, smirking. _If you can call it muscle._

He heard the other bullets coming for him before they even hit his shell. He spun, sending his sai flying. Like heat-seeking missiles, they hit their targets, but only the closest two. Gritting his teeth, Raph slid on his knees, shuiken already out. He'd have to be sure to come back and collect them when he was done. It had taken Master Splinter almost three years to find and shape the steel.


	16. Chapter 16

"Mikey!" Donatello yelled for about the 20th time. "Don't."

He smacked his little brother's hand away from the dashboard. "That's not a radio button!"

"Well, you should have a sign next to it or something." Mikey insisted.

"It has a skull and crossbones on it!" Donnie cried, pointing.

"So does the bottom of my skateboard."

"Just…" Donnie gripped the wheel as he maneuvered their last corner. "STOP touching everything."

Mikey humphed, folding his arms. Only to yelp in pain and unfold them. Donnie shook his head, putting the Battle Shell in park. _I'm putting in for an official transfer. That'll show Leo how serious I am about getting a new partner._

Deep down though, he figured he was always stuck with Mikey because Donnie tended to be the most patient with him. But there was no being patient with him when his brother was worried about someone. Goofball that he was, there was no one more loyal to his friends. Even ones he had just met eight hours ago.

Imogene Dewitter. Donnie had hacked into her records with ease. Being from a naval family, there was more on her then there would be on most people. 19 years old, grew up on 3 different continents, majoring in biology at NYU, answered to the nickname 'Emma'… and one sibling, a brother, who had been affiliated with the Purple Dragons before his death.

That fact worried all of them, except for Mikey. Past ties with the Purple Dragons, a violent and power hungry street gang, wasn't really a vote of confidence. Course, this family's drama wouldn't be their problem if Mikey hadn't been a total bonehead in the first place.

"Ok, Saki Tower." Donnie put his thoughts on the back burner, situating himself from the driver's seat and in front of his computer. He cracked his knuckles. "81 stories of firewalls and encryptions. Come to daddy! Our best bet is that they've hidden the bomb in the ventilation systems, so as to ensure the most damage to the infrastructure. Mikey, how big was that bomb again?"

Mikey shrugged. "As big as that 80s TV Sensei got us when we were 6."

 _Ask a simple question, get an unidentifiable answer._ Donnie sighed, punching away at the keyboard. His algorithms were already downloaded into the van's mainframe, which was separate from the lair, but he'd get along faster with a Trojan program. "Our entrance will have to be up through the ground floor… I can cut the power for maybe 3 minutes…"

"Why don't we just use the door into the kitchen?" Mikey suggested. "That's what the Purple Dragons are doing."

"What?" Donnie stopped and zeroed his goggles through the windshield. Up the alley, alongside the tower, there sat a catering van. Two guys in uniform were hauling boxes inside. "You mean those two waiters?"

"Tito and Gutter." Mikey snarled. "Some ugly you just can't cover up."

Donnie thought for a minute, and then rerouted his computer screen to bring up the tower's itinerary. "There's a committee breakfast and lunch today, with all the joint chiefs attending. Perfect opportunity to blow some important people up."

"Then what're we waiting for!?" Mikey's hand was on the door. Donnie grabbed his shoulder. "Leo and Raph for one. Also for your hemoglobin to reach 12 again."

Mikey blinked at him. "I'm fine; look. we bust 'em now, we don't have to worry about the bomb later. We save the city, rescue the girl, and ride off into the nearest manhole!"

"Is that _really_ how your brain works." Donnie pulled Mikey back before he could open the door. "Mikey, Leo said to wait! There're too many unknown variables…"

Mikey gripped the doorframe, putting up a remarkable struggle for an injured turtle. "My friend's in danger and I need to help her! Dragons weak, me strong, how many more variables do you need?"

Donnie jerked him farther into the back of the van, failing to see the nunchaku swing into the side of his head. He gritted his teeth. "Michelangelo! You're dangerously close to a sedative!"

Mikey stopped. Donnie breathed out. _Wait, when has it ever been this easy?_

Instinct made Donnie looked back up the alley. The waiters had been joined by 2 girls; a mohawked blonde and a redhead… uh oh!

"Emma!" Mikey cried, pointing.

"Where'd she get that bruise?" Donnie couldn't help noticing the giant lump across Emma's forehead.

"It's that Spider's fault." Mikey banged his fist on the dash. "They've coexisted her into their scheme!"

"Coerced." Donnie grabbed Mikey again before he could bolt. "Get back in here!"

"They've already seen me kick their sorry butts!" Mikey protested.

"How do you know she wants to be rescued?" Donnie demanded. "Or that she's being forced to help them? There's no gun on her. She's dressed in the same uniform, helping them carry boxes in…"

Mikey's eyes narrowed. "Donnie, don't even finish that thought."

"Mikey," Donnie sighed. "She has a personal tie to the Purple Dragons…"

"Donatello!" Mikey growled. "Instinct over strategy. That's what Master Splinter always tells you."

"What instinct am I supposed to have about a girl I've never met?" Donnie asked him in frustration

"You can trust _my_ instincts, bro." Mikey thumped a fist over his heart. "The Dragons are responsible for her brother's death, dude. She wouldn't be helping them unless they didn't give her a choice."

Donnie blew out his breath. "If I agree to believe you, will you wait for Raph and Leo?"

They stared off, Mikey finally slumping in his seat. "Whatever. But I'd like you to believe me because it's true."

Donnie cringed at his face. Why were little brothers so good at looking crestfallen?

}{}{}{}{}{}{

Emma traveled about the spacious steel kitchen in a daze. She was running on 4 hours of sleep, there was a likelihood to getting blown up in under 4 hours, and she was counting on a mutated turtle to come to her rescue. Oh, and she was being forced to work alongside Carson's killer! Everyone else had been just as shocked as her when Cherry had admitted it in the van. It had thrown Emma so deep into shock, it had been a half hour before she found the sense to grab Cherry by the arm. "Why?"

"I figured it would get rid of you." was her cold reply.

That was it?

It got the desired result. With Cherry's threat, Emma hadn't tried to run or warn the people that gathered in the dining room outside the kitchen. But not out of fear for her life. So that when Mikey arrived, there would be an opening for her to take Cherry down!


	17. Chapter 17

"I can't _believe_ you let the bomb go off!" Leo knocked Raph's shoulder; an easy thing with all of them snuggly hidden in the Battle Shell. "I gave you 1 simple order and you…"

"Your order was to keep New Yorkers safe." Raph shoved Leo back, making him bump Don. "I moved all the people away before it went off."

Donnie squinted at Raph, "How'd you manage to recalibrate the detonation sequence?"

"I didn't." Raph avoided eye contact. "I tried to move it and activated some back-up system. I had 20 seconds to get outta there."

The whole van groaned, Mikey burying his face in April's shoulder. Leo looked at Donnie. "Donnie, what're the repercussions of this?"

"Besides the six fire engines deployed to the docks and the Foot put on high alert?" Donnie posed rhetorically.

Leo sighed. "Alright. Okay, but they still don't know to point the finger at the Purple Dragons. So we go in, we go in the shadows."

"But it's daytime." Vern pointed out the 8:30 sunshine. The brothers and April looked at him like he was an idiot. Leo turned to face the computer. "Yeah, so… blueprints?"

"They're a doozy." Donnie brought up a single graphic. "There's an individual camera system on every level. Motion sensors covering every door and window, including the nifty helicopter pad on the roof…"

"How'd you even get that?" Vern leaned closer to the screen. "The police didn't even…"

"Vern, zip it!' April whacked him into silence.

"The ploy that the Purple Dragons are using," Donnie continued. "Gives them access to the dining halls on floors 11-13. The good news is that all motion sensors are deactivated to accommodate the extra staffing. Bad news is, they'll have increased the number of bodies since the explosion at the docks. This makes stealth a highly improbably likelihood, Leo."

"What a shame." Raph chuckled.

"Why not just pull the fire alarm?" Mikey threw in. "All the innocents get cleared out…"

"Yeah," Raph smirked anxiously. "Then BOOM, bye-bye HQ."

"We have no idea what the blast radius of this thing is." Leo reminded them. "And suppose it crumbles the infrastructure, like Donnie thinks? London Bridge will come falling down! Maybe Mikey has something with the fire alarm, but we _need_ to diffuse that bomb."

"Actually," Donnie coughed. "A fire alarm would only be a step backwards."

Leo leaned in closer to the computer. "What'd you mean?"

"All floors of Saki Tower are wired to a separate security system," April answered him, gesturing to the tall building. "Just like the cameras. You trip an alarm on Floor 1 or 81, the computer mainframe isolates it and locks the floor down."

The brothers eyed her in confusion. April just shrugged. "We did a series on these systems my first year of reporting."

"She's right." Vern nodded.

"Ok…" Leo drew his hands together, centering his thoughts. "The kitchen's going to be our way in. April, you and Vern will have to be our eyes; we need Donnie to do his thing once we reach the bomb. Take us from floor to floor."

April's eyes sparked. "No problem."

Leo certainly hoped so. "Raph, you're in charge of keeping our path clear. Once we reach the bomb, it'll be up to you and me to buy Donnie as much time as he needs."

"Between 2 and 6 minutes." Donnie quickly configured. Raph just grinned. "I'll buy you a whole calendar bro, if you need it."

"Uh, helloooo!' Mikey waved his good arm as them. "What about me, guys?"

" _You_ are not coming." Leo told him sternly. "You could pop your stitches."

"So I'll be really careful about who I fight." Mikey defended himself. "Besides, my part lies in the search and rescue of the pretty girl."

"No, Mikey." Raph said. Mikey grinned. "Fine. I'll just stay here and hang out. Among all the expensive, non-refundable junk that Don spent hours looking for…"

"Bring him!" Donnie pleaded.


	18. Chapter 18

Ten minutes after nine… it was now or never! That sounded overly dramatic, but Emma knew that once they were done serving, her usefulness was done too. No matter what pull Spider thought he had. Cherry pushed past her, putting empty trays back in their boxes. Gutter had just returned from wheeling the bomb into the dining room and was now following Tito and Spider up the stairwell. It was just her, Cherry, and Ox. Emma plunged another plate into the sink. "Where are they headed?"

"No place of consequence." Ox grunted at her from his position behind her. Emma snorted. "Did you seriously just say that? An ironic statement if I ever heard one."

"Shut up Miss Thang." Cherry came back around, whacking her upside the head. This she did with her left hand; leaving her ribs wide open. Emma turned, locking Cherry around the elbow and drove her fist in hard.

Cherry gasped and fell back from the force. Ox spun Emma around by her shoulders. "Are your really that dumb?"

"Not as dumb as you." Emma sneered, jamming the same fist into his arm. Her fist that concealed a fork. Ox released her, staring in shock at the utensil sticking out of his forearm. Eyes flaring, he lunged at Emma. But the frying pan was already swinging into his face. "Sweet dreams."

"Nice shot!" someone applauded as Ox fell. "Out of the park!"

Emma looked up, her eyes widened and the pan raised a little before she came to her senses. Was she really observing four, 6-ft, lean and green terrapins right now? "Mikey! You're alive… and you… brought friends."

She stepped over Ox's crumpled form, star struck, only to be yanked back. Mikey and the others tensed, blades zinging from their sheaths as the cold end of a gun hit Emma's temple. Emma seethed a frustrated breath, backing up with Cherry's yank on her shirt.

"Take it easy," One of the turtles held up a hand that held a blue-banded katana. "Think about this, _Cherry._ You're out-numbered…"

"Not out-gunned," Cherry tightened her bloody hand on Emma's shoulder. Her nose wrinkled in disgust. "If we weren't in a time crunch, I'd be calling animal control on your sorry butts…"

"But she can't very well turn herself in." Emma shrugged, managing a laugh. Mikey laughed too. And the giant turtle in red shook his huge head. Emma would have easily continued laughing if not for Cherry's Glock.

"You're so much more trouble then you're worth. Don't know what Spider ever saw in you."

"Enough to see past you." Emma whispered, bracing herself. Cherry's face tightened, but before she could act, Emma slammed her head back, crushing the dragon queen's nose. They fell apart, Emma leaning on the counter, catching her breath. Mikey moved forward, but she held up a hand. "She's mine!"

All the anger bubbled up and Emma seized the moment with a left cross to Cherry's jaw. Cherry reacted with a knee-kick into Emma's ribs, pushing her into the sink. Emma's hand shot into the subsy water and drew out a plate, which she smashed over Cherry's mohawk. While dazed, Emma pounded three quick, sharp uppercuts into Cherry's bleeding stomach.

"Have you done this before?" Mikey called from the sidelines.

"Four years at a summer camp," Emma yelled back as Cherry swung a wild right. "Most girls weaved wheatgrass bracelets," She ducked and slapped Cherry's ear. "I kicked rubber dummies."

"Looks like you still are." Mikey cheered.

Emma, who had been preparing a diabolical right jab, was suddenly stopped by her own giggle. That was just enough for Cherry's hand to find her throat. Emma pushed back, but not before her spine hit the steel refrigerator. Her arm became painfully twisted up, the gun's nozzle finding her temple again. Cherry grinned. "Say hi to Carson."

Emma expected many things, but not for Cherry to be suddenly swept off the ground, the gun crushed from her hand. It was the turtle with the red bandana. Cherry kicked widely, repulsed. "Get off me, freak!"

"Zip it, princess!" he growled, pointing a knife at her throat.

"Emma." Mikey hopped around, helping to steady her. "You ok?"

"Ok?" Emma considered the word. "That depends… hey, you hit me with a bat!"

Mikey blushed, embarrassed.

"Yo, Mikey." Red motioned with his head. "You said she got that from some psycho stalker."

"You did what!?" Emma turned to Mikey, eyes glaring. Mikey scratched his head. "In all fairness, Spider is a psycho."

Emma opened her mouth, but then had to nod in agreement.

"Excuse me?" Blue waved his swords over his head, irritated. "Could we possibly diffuse a bomb now?"

"Right!" Mikey snapped into focus, taking Emma's hand. "There's a van waiting for you in the alley…"

"There's no time." Emma took her hand back. "The bomb's in the dining hall and Spider just took Gutter and Tito up the stairs."

"They can't get onto any other floor." The purple turtle reasoned.

"Only if they don't have one of these." Emma dug into Cherry's pocket, pulling out a seamless silver card. "Courtesy of Hun."

"You're all dead." Cherry squirmed in Red's chokehold. "When the Purple Dragons own this city…"

Emma cut her off with the same pan she'd used on Ox. Cherry went limp, Red raising his eyebrows in surprise. Emma shook her head. "I'll say it again; what is it about New York?"

"Are you kidding?" Red said.

"Can we move this along, please?" Blue egged on. "Raph, you and I need to cover Donnie. Emma… can you, somehow remove the people from the dining hall."

"Why not bring the bomb to you?" Emma suggested. "Ya know; less exposure…"

"Do we have time for that?" Mikey asked the one called Donnie nervously.

"I've got the uniform." Emma smoothed her braid back. "Wheeling it out will be a breeze." She was already turning around. "Be right back."

"Does she react to all life-threatening situations like this?" Raph asked Mikey, who grinned. "She's really cool about it. Might burst out hysterically later though."

"Hey," Emma glanced over her shoulder. "I can hear…"

}{}{}{}{}{}{

One second April was sitting in front of Donatello's impressive computer system, the next she was on the floor of the van, shielding her head from falling equipment.

"What the heck?" Vern pulled himself up from the console, eyes darting wildly around. April pushed herself up as he slid the door open. She readjusted her headset. "Donnie? Leo?"

Static was the only response and panic filled her. She followed Vern out of the van to see smoke lisping out of Saki's bent side door. Her stomach sank and she pressed the comm harder into her ear. "Donatello! Can you hear me? Leo?… Raphael, somebody answer me!"

A cough. Ok, she got a cough. Sirens started wailing from the streets, but she only focused on the inner channel buzzing in her head. "Guys, talk to me!"

"Sound off." Leo expressed weakly.

"That shouldn't have happened." Donnie was the first to groan.

"Well it did." Raph assured him angrily.

"But it's barely 9:30," Donnie coughed. "April… they said 11am, right?"

April thought back rapidly. "Right… at 11am, it all comes down."


	19. Chapter 19

"We have obviously mistaken the intention of this bomb." Donnie pushed Mikey off of him. Mikey gripped the counter, trying to steady himself as smoke filled his lungs, alarms blared, and his vision kept going from double to fourths. "Ya think, Donnie?"

"The floors are going to shut down." Leo warned in the nanosecond before screams in Japanese and curses took over from some distant hallway.

"Incoming!" Donnie yelped. "They have guns! Still!"

"Emma!" Mikey blinked himself steady. Several ceiling tiles littered the floor, cabinets overturned, and all utensils and trays were half-melted on the surfaces. Through it all, Mikey spotted the red hair near the doorway and rushed for it. He came to a pile and grabbed at a huge chunk of plaster crushing her torso. He managed to unearth a moaning Emma, picking her up tenderly. "Aw man, she's bleeding!"

"Umm…" Emma's piercing eyes flashed open. She looked at Mikey and snorted. "Turtle… pretty eyes."

Why couldn't he have recorded that for later bragging rights?! Mikey held her up, trying to get her on her feet. "Hang in there, Gorgeous. I'm gonna get you outta here."

"On your right!" Raph called out.

Mikey shifted, putting his shell between Emma and the onslaught of Foot soldiers shooting at them. This put the Purple Dragons on their left, jammed into the stairwell that Emma had mentioned. Dragons on the left, Foot on the right… did this qualify as a Mexican standoff?

"Donnie, to the right!" Leo shouted. "Raph, to the left! Mikey get Emma out of here!"

How did he assess things so quickly?

"Ugh!" Emma squirmed in Mikey's arms. "Watch the ribs, dude."

"I'm watching, I'm watching…" Mikey assured her. He held Emma tighter, leaping over sleeping Cherry, onto the top of the long, silver counter. It ran the length of the room, giving him a clear shot of the door to the alley. Right through the gun-toting gangsters and his ninja-flailing brothers. He looked down at Emma, who was blinking through a gash over the bruise he'd given her earlier. "How are you with merry-go-rounds?"

"What?" Emma blinked at him.

"Dudes," Mikey nodded. "WHEEL OF FORTUNE!"

"Mikey!" Donnie yelled, blocking an attack. "Your stitches."

Too late. Mikey charged ahead and now skidded and spun on his shell along the counter. Emma in his lap, Mikey kicked out, proudly downing Tito and 2 Foot soldiers, but neglected the proper maneuver for stopping. Emma yelped as they crashed to the floor. This seemed to somehow jolt her out of her shock. She pushed off of Mikey's plastron. "Another bomb! There's another bomb! We gotta…"

Mikey barely had time to pull her down, away from all the flying bullets. "Easy dudette! Don't go losing that gorgeous head of yours."

"Come on!" Raph howled and a rolling pin went spinning into the neck of a Foot soldier that had tried to corner Donnie. He swaggered a little before joining his unconscious brethren on the floor. All in all, 4 Purple Dragons and 8 Foot soldiers, in under 2 minutes.

"Are we really just that good." Mikey grinned, helping Emma stand. Raph smirked, but no one else shared Mikey's enthusiasm. Leo wrapped a towel over a cut on his arm. "We need to get to that second bomb."

"Levels 12-81." Donnie sighed, stepping over a body. "Dealer's choice."

"Let me see if I can cut the deck." Emma pushed back her disheveled braid, surveying the damaged kitchen. Mikey couldn't help sighing; she was so cute when she delivered one-liners.

"April…" Leo spoke into his comm. "You read me? Do you have any ideas of where…"

"Got 'im." Emma interrupted, pulling up a dusty Purple Dragon. The lanky one… Gutter. Mikey shuffled over, grabbing the bulk of his weight. "Careful, dudette. You might have broken bones. And you're bleeding."

"So are you." Emma threw back, clearly not one be coddled. Mikey sat Gutter on the counter like he was a toddler.

"Wake up!" Emma slapped the scrawny dude none-too-gently. "Hey, earth to Aldis."

"Aldis?" the 4 turtles repeated. Mikey shuttered. _And I thought my name was bad!_

Gutter's eyes focused, than leaned back when he found the brothers staring at him. "Holy cow…"

"Gutter, focus!" Emma snapped her fingers in his face. "Where'd you guys place the second bomb?"

"Emma," Gutter gripped her shoulder and pointed. "Are those…"

"Really heavy Halloween enthusiasts?" Emma knocked his hand off. "Yes, they are. Gutter, the bomb!"

His face dropped. "You're too late…"

"Better rethink that answer, pipsqueak." Raph growled, coming around where Gutter could see his sai.

Gutter scooted back. "Whoa, listen! We set off the first one so all the floors would lock down. The bomb's sealed off. There' s no way to get to it."

"Or the 50 floors of people above it." Leo remarked gravely.

"Besides," Gutter said.

Emma's eyes silted and she grabbed Gutter's shirt collar, putting their faces inches together. "WHICH FLOOR!"

"23," Gutter squawked, holding his hands up. "In the tower's power core."

"Come again?" Raph looked back at Donnie; they all did.

"All the servers and electrical wiring for the whole building." Donnie gulped. "It's so big, there's a separate floor of cooling tunnels to keep it from imploding from all the heat it generates. One spark off that bomb and the whole tower goes down."

Leo sighed. "April, we need blueprints for the 23rd floor."

They made for the stairs. Emma released Gutter's shirt, following them. Mikey held up a hand. "Whoa, you're not coming!"

"Yeah I am." Emma brushed his hand aside. "You'll need someone to talk Spider down."

"We can't let you come." Leo agreed. "We might not succeed."

"And my leaving makes your sacrifice more noble." Emma shook her head. "I may be fighting a concussion, but I know one thing. My brother is ultimately responsible for this mess. So I think I owe it to _somebody_ to try and stop it."

No one spoke, but Mikey could see she'd won the argument. He stepped aside, allowing Emma access to the stairs. She gave a look of gratitude and started up after Donnie.


	20. Chapter 20

"Exactly when did you become so tech-savvy." Vern watched April's fingers fly over Donnie's keyboard.

"You think all my talent's in front of a camera, Vern." April smiled slyly. "Might not be a genius, but I can find my way around a blueprint."

"Oh no," Vern shook his head. "You have definitely proven your talents elsewhere. I'm sure if you showed even half of them on camera, the guys of NYC couldn't handle it. I, might be able to because, ya know, we've been working together for so long. Side by side… then there's the whole secret turtles thing bonding us closer…"

"Vern, you're rambling." April told him.

}{}{}{}{}{

"It's simple." The turtle whom Emma now knew as Donatello explained rapidly as they climbed flight after flight of Saki's towers. "We'll have April shut the power down with my override program. When it comes back on, the systems will revert back to their original programming…"

"Giving us access to the 23rd floor." Leonardo, the blue one stated, urgently leading the group.

"And we kick some shell." Raphael finished from his position behind their odd parade.

"There!" Mikey pointed at the giant 23rd numeral painted by a door. "Funny how these doors aren't automated."

"Talk to his architect." Raph growled. "Or thank him."

"Stand by, April." Donnie spoke through his headset, passing the keycard up to Leo. Emma looked back at Mikey with a cocked eyebrow. "How'd you guys know April O'Neil? Don't you need to keep a low profile?"

"Oh, April'd _never_ tell on us!" Mikey told her. "I mean, she did once and it didn't end well, but now we're solid. We got a song."

He opened his mouth, gathering a dramatic breath. Raph smacked a green hand over it. "Don't you even!"

Emma had to giggle. She used to do that to Carson, who would annoy to no end with his Bon Jovi. She swallowed back the lump in her throat at the memory. How'd it go from Bon Jovi to bombs? How had that become her brother?

"It's the fifth door on the left." Donnie instructed as they entered the hall inside the floor. Pretty easy direction since the hall was nothing but doors. All glass, with keypads to grant entry. Inside there was nothing but desks and chairs and glowing screens.

"Hold up!" Leo closed his fist. Emma bumped into Donnie's shell. It jingled like a homeless man's shopping cart. "What _is_ all this stuff?"

Now it was Mikey who clamped a hand on her mouth. Apparently, Leo had given some sort of signal.

"Donnie," Leo hissed, not looking back. "Why isn't the power off?"

"Hold that thought." Donnie whispered nervously. "April… uh huh… try ENTER+ZX+ CNTRL+319. No don't! CNTRL+ALT+DELETE doesn't solve everything."

Raph grunted irritably and pushed past all of them, coming to stand in front of the designated door. He drove his giant hand at the glass, but where Emma expected it to shatter, he didn't even dent it. This accelerated Raph's impatience and he punched it again. Then kicked it. Nothing.

"That guy's asking for it." Mikey mumbled. Then blushed with embarrassment, removing his hand from Emma's mouth. She wiped her lips. "Is pizza all you ever eat?"

"Question," Raph stated between pants. "This thing goes, the whole floor goes right?"

"Yes." Leo confirmed, voice on edge.

"Then…" Raph gestured through the glass. "Why's he here?"

They all edged closer to the stare inside the room. And Emma gasped. "Spider."

}{}{}{}{}{}{

"Donnie, you must not have the program uploaded." April huffed.

"Impossible." Donnie insisted. "All my programs got uploaded together."

"Well, it's not here." April told him, clutching her fists off the keyboard. They didn't have time for this! By her watch, it was almost 10am!

"Not to interrupt the Battle of the Geniuses, but there might be a way to shut it down manually."

"How?" April turned to him. "Any power switches are gonna be in the control room, which the guys are currently locked out of."

"Not necessarily." Vern twiddled his finger over her phone. "The Foot pay their taxes to the city, right? Like any taxpayer, their power, water, and heat are plugged into the local power grids…"

April jumped up, catching on. "We cut off the power at the closest station, we shut down the tower!"

"And turn it right back on." Vern flipped his phone to show her the screen. "And guess the locale for this block's station."

April grinned at his mini-map. "Vern, _you_ are a genius!"

}{}{}{}{}{

"Amazing." Donnie marveled. "Shredder had the resources to a 3-block radius right in his backyard! April and Vern are on their way to shut it down right now."

"Through the mass of fire-fighters and police?" Leo cringed. They stood dumbly on the other side of the smudged door that Raph had given up on after 3 minutes. "What time frame are we looking at?"

"8-12 minutes, tops." Donnie said. "Plus another 5 for the building to reboot."

"So we just sit and stare at ugly here until she makes it?" Raph grumbled. "If she even does."

"Never underestimate the power of a press badge." Mikey said confidently.

In any other circumstance, Emma might have indulged her veterinary curiosity and studied Mikey and his brothers closer, but all she could do was glare at Spider through the glass door. He sat in a chair across from the bomb, which was conveniently wired into the gleaming servers behind it. Emma found herself stepping up to the pane, smudged from where Raph had continued to punch it. Spider looked up so her eyes bore directly into his. "Why'd Carson do it? Can you tell me that?"

The hall went silent, alarms vibrating faintly below. Spider registered her words, then shrugged and smirked. "Why does anybody do anything?"

"C'mon Spider." Emma put her cut hands on her hips. "You've stalked me, kidnapped me, and forced me to wear a waitressing outfit! You owe me this one."

"I don't owe you anything."

Emma hit her fist on the glass. "You took my brother from me!"

"Your brother wanted to leave." Spider got out of the chair. "He couldn't wait to get out from under that self-righteous father of yours."

Emma's blood boiled, her eyes stinging. Spider looked pleased at the reaction. He sidled closer to the door. "It's not too late for you to be a part of this. To finish what Carson started."

Oh yeah, he was definitely tipsy!

"Is this guy for real?" Raph snorted, reminding Kara of their presence. "Yo jerk, you're gonna die if you don't open that door."

"It will be his privilege." a dark voice broke the raw emotion. Emma and the turtles looked up the hall, startled. The opposite door had opened and Hun- all 7 ft of him- stood smugly as a dozen or so Foot soldiers filtered in. Mikey whistled. "Meet John Cena… on steroids."


	21. Chapter 21

**I apologize for the gap, my weekend actually turned out to be busy! Back to the TMNT infused fun!**

"Just keep pushing through O'Neil." Vern coached, harboring a camera on his shoulder. He moved forward as April moved back, microphone in hand and smile on her face. "Reports are unconfirmed, but as you can clearly see, an explosion of sorts has shaken the lower levels of the famous Saki Tower."

She continued on, past the fire trucks, police cars, and the smoky front of the building, giving the performance of a lifetime. Too bad the camera wasn't on.

"There'll be a gate just around the corner." Vern went on, panning to the left for a brief view of the narrow outlet they were about to enter. Streams of smoke floated out of the windows above, while jagged glass littered the sidewalk. It crunched beneath their shoes as April forgot the mic and tried the gate. "Locked."

"Try the geek's pen." Vern encouraged, on the look out for anybody spotting them. Donnie had insisted that they take a 4-color ballpoint pen and to press the green if they came across any locks. April fumbled with it a moment, pointed the end at the number lock, and a small, electric shock absorbed into the pad. There was some fizzing, some sparks, and with a click, the gate lulled open.

"Where does he pick this stuff up?" Vern eyed the shorted lock as he followed April in. "I mean, he grew up in the sewers."

"I guess one man's trash, is a turtle's treasure." April said, not paying full attention. She was staring at a line of 4, tall gray boxes. They opened all of them to find endless red and black switches. April paled. "Ok, Donnie? We're here. Which switch?… Donnie?"

Vern looked at her, tensing. "What's up?"

"I don't…" April tilted her head, playing with the piece in her ear. "Leo? Donnie? I think they're occupied."

"Meaning?"

"We're on our own."

}{}{}{}{}{

It was like Raph and Hun had been born to fight each other. Their burling bodies were instantly hurled together in the fight, brawn on brawn. Mikey and Donnie cut down one Foot ninja after another, while Leo was like a spider monkey, bouncing from one wall to the other. But more were coming and Emma wasn't sure how much longer the odds would be in their favor. She tried vainly again at the headset Donnie had given her. "April? You need to shut down the 23rd floor! Got that?… the 23rd…"

But there was nothing but static. Emma threw it down and charged forward. A Foot soldier had his back to her and she pushed him out of the way with a numbing kick to the kidney band. The so-called ninja collapsed. giving her a clear path to the door. Spider still stood there, watching in amusement.

"Open the door, Spider!" Emma demanded, pounding the glass.

"And what?" Spider scoffed. "You'll visit me in prison."

"Better then visiting a graveyard, don't you think."

"You're wasting your time, little girl!" Hun's voice jeered, jerking Emma's attention to her right. He was coming for her, eyes soulless and mean. Until a green hand yanked him back by his ponytail. "Dude, need a trim?"

Mikey vaulted over Hun's shoulder, putting himself in the middle. He pushed Hun back with 2 well-placed kicks. Mikey stood back, nunchaku at the ready, but Emma saw how heavily he breathed. Oh no, his stitches had reopened!

"Spider!" Emma cried with more urgency. "You're not gonna accomplish anything here."

Spider raised a brow. "Is that what you think?"

Mikey tried to deliver a blow, only to have Hun block it and spin him over onto his back- er, shell. Mikey screamed in pain, causing all his brothers to turn. Emma's stomach twisted in fear. She wanted all this to stop! She wanted…

"You wanna know what I think," she switched tactics, glaring at Spider with flames in her cheeks. "I think you were jealous of Carson. Jealous of who he was and all he was going to be. So jealous that you did all you could to worm your way in and destroy his chances at it! You just kept pushing and pushing because you wanted Carson to be as low and hopeless as you are!"

A roar escaped Spider's throat. He grabbed his gun and pointed it straight at the glass. Straight at Emma. She blanked at its dark hole, but didn't move.

"Shoot her!" Hun ordered, his arm tightening around Mikey's throat. "Be done with it."

"No…." Mikey crocked. "Emma, move!"

But Emma only jutted her chin out. "You might as well, Spider. Bullet or bomb it doesn't matter now. You can't corrupt me like you did Carson. Not ever."

Spider's face hardened and there was gunfire. And the abrupt shutting off of the lights.


	22. Chapter 22

For an instant, Mikey thought he had fainted. His wound had opened up and the strain had been killing him through the fight. But then, if he had blacked out, it wouldn't still be hurting. Nor would he be hearing gun blasts. There'd been one, now three more; the flashes wild and muffled behind the glass.

Emma!

Mikey gritted his teeth and bore all of Hun's weight onto his shoulders, flailing the giant over and onto his back. He barely let the thud resound before giving the dude 3 strikes to the throat and chest. Mikey heard his brothers taking advantage of the dark and knew there wouldn't be a Foot soldier standing when the lights returned. But he couldn't wait that long. Emma needed him! He stumbled forward a couple steps, reaching out in the direction of the gun shots.

"Flashlight!" Leo called out. "Anybody?"

A soft glow threw the hall into long shadows. Mikey blinked away the weird shapes, almost bumping into the still figure of Emma. Whew, she was still standing! He touched her arm. "Emma? You ok?"

He only felt her trembling and looked back at the door. The glass was cracked in four places and through the mangled pane Spider lay on the floor, bloodied and unmoving.

 _Dude…_ Mikey sucked in a breath. The bullets meant for Emma had killed him instead. He finally got poetic justice.

"She ok?" Raph joined them, kicking over some of the fallen soldiers.

"April will have the lights back on in a few." Donnie reassured everybody. "And I've bolted the door to delay the authorities."

"I need to sit down." Emma spoke, giving Mikey some relief. He walked with her the two steps to the wall. "That was too close for comfort, Gorgeous."

"Did you plan that?" Raph surveyed the damage through the glass. Emma scooted down the wall next to the door. "Sorta. I- I expected the bullets to break the glass though."

"That was brave." Leo commended her. He knew any of them could've told her that it wouldn't have worked; if Raph couldn't bust through it, then nothing could.

"Ugh…" Raph suddenly coughed. "Donnie, how many minutes before 11am?"

"What'd you mean?" Donnie came up for a peek. "It's 10:28, we've got time. If you're worried about the dead guy…"

Mikey slapped Donnie's shoulder. "Dude, a little sensitivity, would you."

"Not that!" Raph turned Donnie's head. "It's the timer that only says 13 minutes!"

"WHAT!?" the brothers exclaimed.

"It's not supposed to blow until 11am." Leo cried.

"That's why Spider was here." Donnie deduced. "He was a failsafe, in case something like us happened. He must have entered a sequence before…"

"Twelve minutes!" Raph noted nervously. "How long till April and Vern flip the lights back on?"

"Six minutes, forty-eight seconds." Donnie told him, cringing at the look Raph gave him. Leo twirled his katana anxiously. "I'd prefer better numbers, Don."

Raph took another go at the glass, but it wouldn't budge. "AGGGHHH! What's this thing made of!?"

Mikey left them to their edginess, meeting Emma's dazed look. He normally checked out when things got super tense anyway; it was how he dealt and it looked like Emma preferred the same method. "Hey… earth to Gorgeous."

Emma lifted her head, a hand playing with what was left of her braid. "I thought the worse thing was my brother dying, being gone forever, ya know?"

Mikey just nodded, knowing the hole his family would feel without any one of his bros. Emma released her braid, sending red waves down her shoulders. "But now, the worse thing is realizing he died a stranger. A gang member and the founder of Operation Big Apple Bombs… that wasn't the brother I grew up with!" Her blue eyes narrowed with tears. "It makes me so mad, Mikey! I wanna dig him up, kick him awake, and kill him all over again!"

Was this the part where he was to offer uplifting advice? Because Mikey had nothing. He cleared his throat. "Carson was lucky to have a sister who cared so much."

"Dang right he was." Emma brushed her eyes dry. "But I didn't care enough. He still ran with the gangs."

"Our dad," Mikey jerked his head at his quarreling brothers. "Tells us that people gotta follow their own path. I don't know why Carson picked New York or the Purple Dragons, but you're not responsible for that. Or the stuff that he did."

"I know," Emma leaned her head back with a heavy sigh. "And yet I don't. Does that make sense?"

"No." Mikey grinned. The moment halted when he felt a pressure and flinched. Emma was touching his side and brought her hand away, stained red. "You need new stitches."

"We'll need body casts if we don't book NOW!" Raph told them.

"No!" Leo stood in their path back to the stairs. "We can still fix this."

"Leo's, there's no time." Raph stressed. "I'm not losing my family because of your self-righteous stupidity."

"We can't just leave it like this." Leo insisted. Raph pushed him back. "Sure we can. It's pretty easy."

Mikey ignored them, grabbing Donnie's shoulder. "Is there any way to jimmy the lock?"

"Mikey, it's all electronic." Donnie huffed.

"But the electric's all off now." Mikey knelt to inspect the door jamb. "All that's standing in our way is a deadbolt…"

"Use this!"

They looked to find Emma holding up the gray keycard. Mikey grabbed it eagerly, slipping it in the thin crack between the door and the wall.

"Mikey," Donnie rubbed his brow. "This is a high security web, coated into the latest tech; there's no way…"

He was interrupted by the click and release of the door. Mikey let it swing open, checking his peripheral to be sure Emma had seen it. "I can crack safes and car trunks too."

"Not a skill I'd highlight to a girl." Raph told him. Emma smiled weakly. "Hey, I'm impressed."

"Me too." Donnie admitted.

}{}{}{}{}{

"They got it!" April breathed out ecstatically. "We still need to turn the power back on, but they've got the bomb! Donnie's diffusing it as we speak.

"He better hurry." Vern said, reapplying the switches. "I'm hearing more black-n-whites by the minute."

April's heart skipped a beat. "They're gonna have all the ground exits covered… if the guys can't come down…"

"They'll have to go up." Vern finished with the last switch.

 _Easy enough._ April thought. _For them… so long as that bomb's been taken care of._


	23. Chapter 23

"Incoming!" Leo yelled, as Donnie entered his second minute of fiddling with the bomb. Raph also yelled, Mikey gave a 'Cowabunga', and another fight was on. Donnie shut out the grunts, thuds, and clanging swords, instead registering the wires, chargers, and the glowing circuit board in the upper left corner. The make-up of this bomb was instantly familiar from the kiddie bomb at the warehouse, however the design was far more complex.

 _Set for maximum detonation._ Donnie shuttered. _Wires connected to the circuits, circuit board connected to the explosives… seven minutes, Donatello._

"Mikey!" Emma screamed and in the next second, she was helping him sit down. Don looked over at his brother, finding him pale; at least by their standards. "How are you doing?"

"Just focus on that bomb, dude." Mikey grunted. Both of Emma's hands pressed in to his stitched side, her fingers bloody. "It should not be bleeding this much, even with 4 ripped stitches."

Her composure was remarkable, given her own gashed forehead. She had crusted scrapes all over and Donnie had noticed how she favored her left side. Probably cracked ribs from having the ceiling fall on her. With the exception of Mikey, her injuries were undoubtedly the most severe of the group. Donnie's attention to Mikey and his girlfriend- which they were totally going to rag on him later- cost him as the force of a subway car hit him from the side, knocking him away from the bomb. The turtle lifted his head, clutching his bo, to find the mountain man stalking toward him.

"I hate to rush this." Leo called in from the hall. "But the odds are a little uneven out here!"

Donnie gulped. "Uh, not so great in here, either."

"Hun!" Emma lunged from behind, a nunchaku in her hand. She twisted it around Hun's ponytail and with both hands, she yanked. Hun roared and sent her crashing back into the servers with one swipe. This was enough of a distraction for Donnie to leap up, catch Hun's wrist, and twist his whole arm back. His massive body followed, spinning him onto his back. Donnie pressed the button on his staff, which pile-drove an end right into Hun's solar plexus. He gasped, curling in, but this just made his face a closer target for Don's fist.

"This time, stay down." Don ordered the unconscious thug.

"Donnie!" Mikey called out, her tone clearly panicked. "Five minutes and counting, dude!"

Donnie never could explain how a thousand tiny thoughts were able to pass through his brain in two seconds flat, but they did. They went from Situation - Solution - Conflict - Solution - Execution. Just like that, he knew what they needed to do.

"Leo!" Don yelled out, skidding back over to the bomb. "Radio April and Vern! Tell them we'll meet at the Battle Shell!"

He swept his eyes over the wires, until he spotted the three brackets securing the explosives to the main frame. Pulling out his pliers, he made three quick snips. "Follow me!"

Emma's eyes widened. "What are you…"

"Make a hole!" Donnie announced as he stood, bomb in hand. The Foot soldiers fighting Raph and Leo froze, like someone had hit the pause button on the remote. Raph saw the cause for alarm as Donnie stepped out into the hall. "Don? What're ya doin'?"

"Get to the elevator." Donnie said, nodding back the way they'd come. The lights had only been on a few minutes, but they should work… he hoped.

"Leo!" Emma waved him over, struggling in the threshold. "Help me with Mikey!"

"Don't try to follow us." Donnie warned, his brothers forming a tight circle with him, facing off any of the Foot. "This baby's liable to blow any second!"

The black-clad soldiers watched them in fury as they backed down to the opposite end of the corridor. Emma pressed the down button and it took some shifting, but eventually they all squeezed into the elevator. Donnie held the bomb with sweating palms. "Floor 38."

Leo hit it with his elbow, swords poised until the doors finally shut. But nobody exhaled. Raph eyed the timer, glowing at 4:27. "You better have a plan, nerd boy."

"One that turns us away from the dozens of police and news van below us." Leo mentioned.

"Actually, if this thing goes off, we're likely to survive the explosion." Donnie explained.

"Nothing like the power of optimism." Mikey scooted into a corner, pulling Emma with him. "It's ok if I die with you in my arms, right?"

"I'm serious," Donnie said calmly. "This here is just a starter; the massive explosion would've come from the voltage overload, straight into the tower's main frame."

"Which you unhooked it from." Leo nodded, encouraged.

"Ok, but I'd still prefer to be as far away from it as possible." Raph said.

"We're headed to the 38th floor." Donnie told him. "It's where the tower faces the roofs of the buildings surrounding it. We blast this thing at the window and POOF, we're gone."

"April likes that idea." Leo said, tapping his reestablished comm.

"That makes two of us." Mikey groaned, wavering slightly.

"Three of us." Emma agreed, supporting Mikey's weak side.


	24. Epilogue

}{}{}{1 Week Later}{}{}{

Emma never answered unidentifiable numbers on her cell- annoying telemarketers. But this same number had been bugging her for two days. If she was to get any studying done, she better just set the caller straight. She hit 'send' on the screen. "Look pal…"

"Paging Dr. Dewitter, paging Dr. Dewitter," a mischievous voice talked over her. "You're needed below the corner of 5th and Wellsly. There's a patient here who's too hot to handle."

"Mikey!"

It was a good thing her roommate was out. Emma hadn't meant to squeal, but his call was unexpected. And suddenly made sense to all those untimely calls. "I can't believe this! How'd you get my number?"

"Donnie was looking for any excuse to hack into the city database-thingy."

Emma crinkled her nose. "You could've just asked April."

"That's not exciting enough for a techno-geek." Mikey said. "How are you? Any Purple Dragons harassing you?"

"I've barely left my dorm." Emma pressed a subconscious hand to her bandaged ribs. "Doctor's orders. Hopefully you've listened to yours; keeping those stitches clean?"

"As a whistle." Mikey whistled to prove a point. "Master Splinter won't let it be until it's perfectly healed."

"He'll be waiting a few months." Emma told him. "Thankfully I don't have to wait that long. I can't wait to get these bandages off."

"We watched your exclusive with April in the hospital." Mikey said.

"Watched it?" A distant voice laughed. "You recorded it for crying out loud."

Mikey's voice panicked. "My thumb hit the record button by accident."

"Yeah, right."

"You have yet to tell sensei that you taped over the ending of his soap opera."

Emma's brow furrowed. "Mikey, do you have me on speaker?"

She was answered with a chorus of slapstick noises, voices telling each other to shut up or to get lost. Emma leaned back, sending her giggles to the ceiling. This was too bizarre.

"Yeah, ok, so," Mikey came back on, hopefully after finding a more private place to chat. "I mean, the reason I called was to make sure you were ok; ya know, after everything with Spider… and Carson?"

There were a million ways to answer that question. Emma looked to the textbooks lining her shelf; above that was her family collage, which Carson had made with her when she was 10. It wasn't pro or glamorous, but they'd framed it. So she'd kept it.

"I'm… sorting the good from the bad." Emma watched the collage, like it might move to acknowledge her comment. "I miss my brother, but I got to kick the crap out of his killer and watch her get arrested." She swallowed beck tears. "We were tight growing up, but we were practically strangers before he died. It's all a roller coaster."

"That sucks." Mikey said gently; sweetly in fact, making Emma smile. "Yeah, but I'll figure it out… thanks for what you said, back at the tower."

"You already gave me plenty of thanks." Mikey's tone picked up momentum. "This might come as a shock to you, but that was my first kiss."

"Nooooo." Emma laughed, sending discomfort up her torso. Then she thought of the one thing she needed to ask. "Am I ever going to see you again?"

"Soon, I'd imagine." Mikey toyed with the answer. "My family's kinda gotta stick to rare appearances though."

"Please do." Emma fought back disappointment. "Call me anytime, though. I can be ready with aspirin or antiseptic in a heartbeat."

Mikey paused. "Facebook works too."

"Facebook it is." Emma glanced at the notes she had been studying for Geometry. "Do I look under Mikey or Michelangelo?"

"Try Venus de Milo."

"What?" Emma paused her pencil above the paper.

"Trust me."

That was easy enough. Emma jotted the name down. "We'll be linked within the hour."

"But we already are, Gorgeous." Mikey said wishfully. "In our hearts."

It was nonsensical to blush at such a cheesy pick-up, but Emma did anyway. "Lucky me, Handsome."

Mikey about gasped all the air out of their connection. "Oh, that's totally our thing now!"

Emma raised a brow, then shrugged. "Uh, sure?"

"Guys!" Mikey shouted to the background of wherever he lived. "We've got a thing! Wait till you hear this-"

"Shut up, Mikey!"

 **THE END**

 **I really really hope that you guys liked this story because there's more where it came from. I'm not done with this OC yet.**


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